


Perfectly Perfect

by InkyAnimatronic



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/M, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Self Insert, Steelbeak is an OOC sweetie, The torture is quick and isn’t explained in brutal detail, Torture, angst and pain, attempted murder?, tools used for torture: knife scissors whip baseball bat and a wall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23851090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkyAnimatronic/pseuds/InkyAnimatronic
Summary: Lexi is a dognose who has a speech impediment and a learning disorder. Both of which have always been insecurities of hers. Steelbeak has insecurities over his own intelligence too. What will happen when the two meet and start bonding over their insecurities? Maybe even growing attracted to the other and gaining a little crush in the process.What Lexi doesn't know is that Steelbeak is her enemy and that FOWL is back to get rid of her and her adoptive family. Steelbeak knows she is basically a McDuck, even before meeting her in person. However, he soon realizes that unlike the rest of FOWL and most people in his life, she'll actually listen to him. She doesn't even call him stupid or muzzle him with his own beak.But sooner or later, he is going to eventually realize that he has a dilemma. FOWL... or the first real friend that he has had in a long time.
Relationships: Steelbeak (Disney)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 35
Kudos: 13





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter Summary:  
> Just a bit of backstory for my OC. Steelbeak will appear in chapter 1.
> 
> Other:  
> This takes place shortly after the Double O Duck episode and in the year 2019. So the kids are 12 years old. Launchpad should be about 32 years old. I know Steelbeak is in his 20s but I’m going to bump him to be LP’s age. 5 year age difference(roughly) is a lot better to me than like 10 years. Since I think Donald and Della are about 36 or 37 now and she’s the same age as them.

During the summer and after her 6th Birthday, Lexi Lulu, a Dognose, moved from Ohio to Duckburg, Calisota.

Her and her family were fully moved in by the time she started Kindergarten at an expensive private school.

Lexi was always super shy and likely has social anxiety. But she still had friends back in Ohio. So having to make new friends at a new school that she never went to before was making her anxious.

To make things worse, she had to do speech classes due to her speech impairment. And as such, would leave during one of her classes every week to meet with the speech teacher. Usually it was during something fun like Gym or Art Class. But it was only once a week.

It was still the first week of school when a duckling named Della came up to her to see if she wanted to play. As the girls walked over to the little kitchen area, they introduced themselves.

“My name’s Della Duck!” Della said. “You weren’t in my preschool class, right? Or were you in the other one?”

“I’m Lexi. And no. I moved here during the summer.” Lexi replied.

“Oh cool! You’ll like Duckburg!” Della grinned.

As the two continued to talk and play, Della couldn’t help but notice something familiar to her.

“Hey do you do speech classes or something?” Della asked.

“Not yet. I think I’m suppose to start next week.” Lexi said.

“Okay. Maybe you’ll have that with my twin brother! He has a speech problem too. But you talk better than him. He’s in the other Kindergarten class though. I don’t know why they split us up both this year and last year.”

“I don’t know either. Does he have lunch at the same time as us?” Lexi decided to ask.

“Uh huh! You can eat with us and I’ll introduce you to him. You already have something in common!” Della nodded. 

Later at lunch, Lexi and Donald met and instantly hit it off. As they expected, they had the same speech class together too. It made them both feel better that someone else had a similar problem and insecurity.

———————-

The years went by and they continued to remain best friends. She was actually at their Uncle Scrooge’s mansion so often that he took to calling her his niece too and allowed her to call him uncle.

When they were teens, she started going on all kinds of adventures with the three of them.

Donald started college about a year or two after high school and met Panchito and Jose. But Lexi and Della chose to keep going on adventures instead of college for a while. Scrooge decided to let Lexi move into one of the rooms in the mansion since she was going on adventures so often.

At one point, Lexi was in a relationship with Jose, but they mutually broke it off when they knew they couldn’t move permanently from their respective countries. So he moved back to Brazil sometime later.

A few years later when she, Donald, and Della were about 25, Lexi decided to go to college and take a break from adventuring. During that time, Donald had joined the Navy and even started going on adventures again while Panchito returned to Mexico.

The summer after her first year, Lexi’s niece was born. Months later in the following year, Della had three eggs. 

Fortunately, nothing happened to her brother or sister-in-law. Yet she was always watching her niece when they needed her to. Della took to helping more often when she found out about her own kids.

But when Della went missing after going into space, Lexi quit college.

The Ducks and McDucks had become like another family to her. With Della gone, Lexi knew Donald would need help raising the boys.

She tried to talk to Scrooge for months but he gave her the silent treatment. Or started yelling and threatening her. Simply misplacing his anger for what happened and taking it out on Lexi, especially after Donald took the boys and went no-contact.

Duckworth helped her move in with Donald for the time being since she was no longer welcomed to the mansion. But it made it easier to help Donald out while being under one roof.

As the kids grew up, she started being called Aunt Lexi by them. It started when her niece, Hailey, was over to play and called her it to get her attention. The boys asked if they could do the same since she was helping raise them and was basically their aunt despite not being related by blood or through marriage. Of course, they were fine with this. Lexi even saw them as her nephews too.

When the boys were about 5 or 6 and going to school, Lexi felt it was time to move out since the house boat was getting smaller as they grew older and bigger.

Lexi found a house nearby and began working from home so she watched the kids after school at her place since Donald, her brother, and sister-in-law worked until 5 or 6 PM. 

They were still mourning Della and Lexi was still upset at how her friendship with Scrooge ended. But overall, everything was fine now.

At one point, they noticed the boys introduce Hailey as their ‘cousin’ just like how Donald and Della did with her. So knowing the kids were getting along great was enough to make them happy.

Sure there were fights, but nothing more than the usual sibling or other relatives fights.

That said, they struggled with money since even though they weren’t living together, she was still paying Donald child support to help out. After all, she lived with herself and her turtle. That was barely two mouths to feed compared to his four. And Donald struggled with keeping jobs.

When the kids were 10 years old, Lexi had gone out of town to visit family back in Ohio with her parents and her brother’s family. So Donald needed a babysitter since she wasn’t home at the time. His only option? The uncle they haven’t spoken to in 10 years.

She was surprised when she returned home and found out that they had reconnected and Scrooge allowed them to move in with him. Especially after the house boat blew up.

Lexi went to visit one day when she was off work and her and Scrooge had a talk that they both knew needed to happen. He apologized for taking his anger out on her all those years ago. And even offered her old room to her so she can officially join the family again.

She gladly took it and moved in shortly after Donald and the boys did.

Soon, she discovered that she would quickly gain another niece that year in Webby. The following year after Lena was brought back, she started considering her as another niece too.

It was now 2019 and about a month or two after the Moonvasion happened. The aliens that stayed on Earth are living peacefully now.

After finding out she quit college to help raise her boys, Della more or less forced her to go back to school despite being in her mid-30s now.

So here she was at the library. Hailey, Huey, and Violet joined her since they made their own little book club. So while they looked for a new book to read and sat at a different table in her line of sight, she sat at a computer to do her homework.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steelbeak is here and we chat about teachers that sucked when we were kids.

It was an average Spring day in April 2019 when Black Heron sent Steelbeak to the library to grab a few things. Apparently there was some books there that FOWL needed. So she decided to send her errand boy to go get them for her.

Steelbeak stepped inside and groaned to himself. He was never really into reading when he was younger. Well, except for Darkwing Duck comics. He read those all the time. Much to his teacher’s dislike.

He looked at the list he was given and began looking for them.

As he walked by a table, he thought he saw that Dewey kid at a different table only in red this time. But he didn’t get the chance to think about it for very long when a noise distracted him.

Looking down, he saw someone had smacked themselves in the face with a notebook. Chuckling, he walked over so he was leaning on the chair next to them.

“Bad day, babe?” Steelbeak asked.

“You can say that.” I replied with my pointed ear pinned down and not looking up from my notebook.

“What are you doing?” Steelbeak decided to ask.

“I forgot how much homework sucked.” I put the notebook down and my ear lifted up again.

“You look a little old for homework.” Steelbeak stated the obvious.

“Let’s just say I went to college, quit after a year or so to help raise my nephews, and finally started going back recently.” I said.

“Ooooh!” Steelbeak started. “I got ya.” 

“I also forgot how teachers can be dicks for no reason.” I added.

“Oh don’t get me started. I hated just about every teacher that I had as a kid. Then again, it probably didn’t help how often I fought with my teachers and the other kids.” He gave a small quiet chuckle. “I lost track on how many schools I was kicked out of for fighting.”

“Wow.” I stated.

“I know!” Steelbeak said and kneeled down a little. “Wanna hear a story about one of my worst teachers that I had?”

“Sure.” I nodded.

“So I was maybe 9 or 10 years old, right? I did awful in things like Math and Science and had this woman as my teacher for both one year. I think those two classes were back-to-back even.” Steelbeak started. “For some reason she refused to give me help in those classes. And was constantly calling me out in front of the whole class. Hell, the other kids started calling me names like ‘stupid’ and she did nothing about it since she called me it herself too and even started it.”

“Please say she got fired.” I said.

“Nope. Never got fired for it. I got kicked out for fighting her one too many times though.“ Steelbeak continued. “Another thing that happened was that some kid was crying for getting a B and this same teacher told her to be happy she wasn’t like me and getting Ds and Fs! It wasn’t the only time she mentioned my grades out loud.”

“I probably would’ve fought her too for being a mega bitch.” I replied.

“Really?”

“Nah.” I smiled. “I didn’t get into fights like that. But it definitely would’ve pissed me off if I had a teacher go THAT far. Now I’m glad my kids are home schooled now.” 

“Did you have teachers get on your nerves like that?” Steelbeak asked.

“Yeah I did. I remember in 4th and 5th grades, I had this teacher bitch at me nearly every day. When I found out she was my home room teacher for 5th grade, I dreaded that school year before it started. Only upside is that my class had two desks side-by-side for our books.” I replied.

“What did she bitch at you for?” Steelbeak asked, sitting down beside me.

“I went to a private school and had to wear skirts along with pants. She kept yelling at me about my skirts being too short despite classmates and kids both younger and older having even shorter skirts than me. Plus, I was constantly growing during those two years and had gotten new skirts in 4th grade. Let’s just say those things are expensive as Hell. Even back then.”

“Did any other teachers give you trouble about it?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “That’s why I never did anything about it. She was the only one to give me problems so I chose not to get new skirts to make her happy. If other teachers and the principal said something, maybe I would’ve done something different.”

“Good for you. Honestly, I probably would’ve picked fights with her every day like my own teachers.” Steelbeak shrugged. “That said, I don’t even remember many from high school. In fact, I actually dropped out completely when I was 16 years old and left home.”

“How did your parents feel?” I asked.

“My folks didn’t like it. But then again, my dad’s an asshole and I never did anything right in his eyes. My mom, eh….she wasn’t much better.”

“That really sucks.” I replied, not knowing how to take in that info.

“Don’t worry about it. It was years ago. I haven’t seen my parents in a long time but I did turn into my dad a little bit.” He tapped his beak. “Never told me what happened to his original beak before he got a prosthetic but I doubt he did the same thing that I did to mine. Personally, I‘m pretty sure he was some crime boss. You‘re lucky you got two families.”

“How do you know?” I questioned, humorously. 

“Well, you’re a Dognose. So obviously you have a Dognose family. And I’ve seen you with McDuck’s family all the time. Are you like some bonus family member or something?” Steelbeak asked.

“Yeah. I guess you can say I’m an honorary family member since I grew up with his niece and nephews. He took to calling me his niece one day and he‘s been my Uncle Scrooge ever since.” I said.

“See? You got two families. You make stuff like that look easy. I mean, I did have friends growing up that liked things like Darkwing Duck. But it didn‘t last in high school.” Steelbeak rubbed his face.

“Trust me, I always had social anxiety growing up and was lucky to meet Donald and Della. I’m pretty sure Donald and I only became best friends because we both have speech impediments. So we knew how the other was feeling with our shared insecurity and bonded from that. Della was a bonus best friend that happened to be a girl too.”

“So would you have been able to make friends or gain a second family without them?” Steelbeak asked.

“Fuck no.” I replied.

“Well,” Steelbeak laughed then someone shushed him so he quieted his voice a little. “I guess that made me feel a little bit better.”

“Surely you have friends now right?” I asked.

“Yeah!…Kind of… Depends on what you consider coworkers to be. Especially if they call you stupid and constantly muzzle you. I‘m NOT stupid, by the way!” Steelbeak replied, folding his arms.

“Didn’t say that you are.” I frowned. “Doesn’t sound like friends to me. I mean, playfully calling you dumb is one thing, being full on serious is another. Especially if they muzzle you.”

“Have you ever been called it before? And are you still bothered about your speech problem?” Steelbeak asked.

“Not as much now as I was when I was younger. If you meant stupid, I don’t think I’ve been called it straight to my face. But I know my teachers thought it all the time. Especially my math teachers.” I held up the notebook I hit myself with earlier and showed it saying MATH on it.

“I agree, Math is the worst.” Steelbeak chuckled. “Now I understand why you smacked yourself earlier. But come on, I doubt you did worse than me.”

“I beg to differ. You weren’t the one with an undiagnosed learning disorder so everyone thought you were legit stupid when it came to all things Math. Well, I’m pretty sure I have a learning disorder. Those tests didn’t exist as a kid so who knows. But the one I think I have makes so much sense.” I said.

“Oh really? What is it?” Steelbeak asked.

“It’s called Dyscalculia.” I replied. “It basically involves having a hard time with concepts like time, mainly analog clocks, and measurement. And not being able to remember concepts, rules, and formulas.”

“Do you think things would be different if you knew about it as a kid?”

“Probably not.” I shrugged. “It wouldn’t of changed how I still did awful in math and better in History and reading.”

“Same here.” Steelbeak said. “I wasn’t into reading much as a kid but it was definitely the easiest subject for me. History wasn’t so bad either. What type of books did you read?”

“Mainly things involving supernatural or paranormal. What about you?”

“Like I said, I didn’t read books much.” Steelbeak said.

“You mentioned Darkwing Duck, right? Did you read the comics?” I asked.

“Oh yeah! I read those all the time! Did you read them?” He asked.

“Not really. I’ve been rewatching the show with my buddy, LP.” I said.

“…You mean Launchpad?” I nodded. “Huh. Didn’t know he was into Darkwing too.” 

“You know him?” I asked.

“Sort of. We met… in passing one day and I heard the kid over there talk to him. Only he was wearing blue.” He pointed to Huey.

“That was probably Dewey. Huey wears red a lot and is over there. Dewey wears blue. Louie, the third triplet, is usually wearing green.” I said and he stared at me. “What? I did help raise my honorary nephews… so of course I can tell which is which.”

“Fair enough.” Steelbeak replied with a shrug. “So what made you start school again? Was it because your kids are older now?”

“No. The boy’s mom is home now and found out I quit college over 10 years ago to help raise her kids. She basically forced me to go back.” I replied.

“And yet you’re still babysitting one of them.” Steelbeak said.

“The kids asked to come since they made their own book club. I don‘t mind watching them as I do my homework.” I shrugged.

“Where’s the rest of the kids at?” Steelbeak asked.

“Either home at the mansion or hopefully with another adult.” I said.

“Oh okay. Well, I better go look for the books that I’m here for before I forget.” Steelbeak said, standing up and taking the list out again.

After looking at the list, he frowned and looked around.

“Need help…?” I asked, noticing the look.

“Uh no. I can find them on my own. Thanks though, babe.” Steelbeak winked then walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick chapter. I’m trying to think of filler related things before the angst and pain starts in a couple of chapters. Which I’m going to try and make be chapter 10 when it happens.
> 
> I will forever headcanon that OG Steelbeak is New Steelbeak’s dad. But instead of working with FOWL, he was some Crime/Mob boss and it’s how he lost his beak. Which is ironic that both lost their beaks for one reason or another.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They run into each other again. Only at the boardwalk/beach this time. You also find out a bit more about Steelbeak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was only written thanks to the angst or whatever at the beginning. I wasn’t planning on that happening originally...it just did. And the chapter continued from there. Now i’m back in a writer’s block. And an art block. So it’s double the Hell for me.

  
Steelbeak walked down the boardwalk, mumbling to himself. Black Heron once again called him a stupid idiot and told him to get out while she worked on whatever it was. Bradford even told him to stop bothering her while she’s working and to shut up. Going as far as holding up the remote to his beak as a threat to keep it shut again.

So he left, not because they told him to leave. He just didn’t want to get muzzled again. 

The most recent time wasn’t the first time they did that. But he did get startled when his beak was forced shut for the first time in quite a while.

When it happened the first time, he was very close to completely recovering from his beak surgery. FOWL was kind enough to give him a place to stay and hide from the police while he recovered. It wasn’t much but it was better than being homeless and on the run. 

Even his new beak was better than his original since it can’t be damaged like his real beak did. That said, his steel beak can be fixed.   
His original beak was only able to handle so much damage before being destroyed permanently. 

But anyway, he had been talking to Bradford and Black Heron about something when Bradford pressed a button on a remote. Instantly, his beak was forced shut and he couldn’t open it again. Out of panic, he started punching his beak to open it again and even made himself bleed around the edges of his beak and his knuckles.

Bradford seemed pleased that the remote worked and pressed it again so he could open his beak.

Every time he tried to get answers as to what they did to his beak to allow that to happen, he was shut down or ignored. 

Sometimes even muzzled.

Fast forward to a few weeks later, he was now healed from his surgery and was still very much a part of FOWL. But he couldn’t even leave if he tried. He learned that one day. 

Steelbeak wasn’t even trying to leave FOWL. But he figured he must’ve done something to piss them off. One second he was hanging around with other agents. The next, he was thrown into a cell and his beak was forced shut with a press of that damn button. 

At first he shrugged it off and figured they were messing with him. But there was a clock on the other side of the cell door in his view. A few hours turned into a full day. And soon that full day became three days.

Every once in a while Bradford would be down to give him water throughout the day and opened his beak so he could drink. But he wasn’t given any food. 

To them, they were trying to make him dependant on FOWL. Especially since he couldn’t eat, drink, or barely breathe with his beak shut like that. To Steelbeak, he knew they were giving him a taste of what could happen if he fell out of line. 

If he tried, they would surely muzzle him and throw him into a cell like they did. But he also knew that unlike this time, they wouldn’t give him food OR water. They would likely make him starve. 

And it wouldn’t be for a few days either. It could be for weeks, months, or years. However long it would take to break him. Of course they would have to give him food and water eventually if they wanted him to live another day. Or they could just starve him to death.

After that third day when they let him out and opened his beak, Steelbeak vowed to stay with FOWL for the rest of his life. And that he knew he couldn’t survive without them. Not when they have the tools to fix his beak if needed. 

Plus, he knew they could kick him out and even muzzle him at the same time and not help him. They would just say to find a way to open it himself and ignore him. And if he couldn’t? Oh well. It wasn’t their problem. 

That was months ago and he did get muzzled a few times after that. But it’s been around two or three months between the last time and the most recent time. So when it did happen, he started punching his beak from being startled and not wanting it shut. 

He has since left the secret base at that place for kids to waste their family’s money and found his way to the boardwalk. Still mumbling about not being respected and that he’s not stupid. 

As he was walking, a black limo came up out of nowhere and slammed into a light at the edge of the sidewalk. 

“Who is stupid enough to…” Steelbeak trailed off when he saw who opened the driver’s door. “…Launchpad? Of course…just what I needed today.” 

“Here we are, Lexi.” Launchpad said, opening the back door.

“Wait-“ Steelbeak stopped walking towards him, figuring he could take his anger out on him. “-What?” 

“Thanks for the ride, LP!” I said, stepping out of the limo. 

“No problem!” Launchpad said, opening the trunk and taking out the beach chair and bag. “Need help getting these down there?” 

“No thanks. I got it. You might want to get the front of the limo fixed though.” I smiled.

“Oh yeah. That little dent won’t be a problem!” Launchpad said, waving it off with a laugh. “Have fun! Text me when you‘re ready to be picked up.” 

“Will do! See yah, Launchpad!” I waved to him as he got back into the limo and drove off. 

“Little dent?” Steelbeak muttered before looking at the dognose that LP was with, feeling like he knew her. “Oh duh! We just didn’t introduce ourselves at the library!” 

He then decided to follow the Dognose down to the beach.

By the time he had caught up to her, she had found a spot on the fairly empty beach. She had taken a blanket out of her bag and was laying it down. 

“So how has that homework been, babe?” Steelbeak decided to ask, as he stepped up to me.

“As hard as you can imagine.” I turned to him after picking up my chair and raised my sunglasses to my head.

“I’m sure it is.” He laughed. “So no kids today? I‘m Steelbeak, by the way.” 

Steelbeak tapped his beak.

“Lexi.” We shook hands before I went back to setting my chair up. “And no. I’m having some me time.”

“Sounds nice. Mind if I join yah?” Steelbeak asks.

“Sure. Do you want the chair?” I reply, putting sunscreen on my shoulders and around the tank top straps.

“If you don‘t mind.” Steelbeak then started taking his shoes off. 

I shrugged before taking my sandals off and grabbing a towel from the bag to use as a pillow. Then I laid down on the blanket on my stomach.

Steelbeak began taking his jacket, tie, and shirt off. Setting them off to the side where there was less of a chance of them getting sandy. 

“See something you like?” Steelbeak asked, noticing that I was watching as he sat down in the chair. 

“Uh no…” I trailed off, putting my sunglasses back on and blushing a little.

“You sure about that?” He asked, smirking.

“Uh huh.” I nodded and quickly changed the subject. “So what brings you here today?” 

“…Just taking a walk. My coworkers were giving me a headache.” He said after a second. “Saw your buddy, Launchpad, drop you off. So I figured we could talk again.”

“…Did they call you stupid again?” I asked, remembering what he said when we met before. “And yes, I know you’re not stupid.” I quickly added since I saw he was going to flip out. 

“Maybe…” Steelbeak rubbed the back of his head, calming down after hearing the second part. “…At least someone knows that.”

“Sounds like you’re having a bad day at work.” I said.

“I just really needed to walk away from my job for a bit. My boss was threatening to muzzle me again and I would rather walk away than not open my beak for a while.” Steelbeak replied. 

“Yeah. That sounds like torture. Obviously you wouldn‘t be able to eat or drink. But would you be able to breathe?” I asked.

“Barely.” Steelbeak said. “But I owe them. Besides, I can’t walk away for good or anything. If I try, they’ll gladly muzzle me, throw me into a cell, and never let me out or open my beak again.” 

“…That’s evil as fuck.” I said. “What did they do that made you owe them your life? And how can they control your beak like that?” 

“I got arrested for cockfighting. The day the police showed up was the same day my beak got severely damaged. They broke me out of jail and gave me my prosthetic. I consented to the steel beak. What I didn’t consent to was them putting magnets or something in it that they can control with a remote. You can imagine my surprise when they did it the first time.”

“How did you react?” I decided to ask.

“I was shocked and instantly started punching my beak so hard the edges around it and my face started bleeding. Even my knuckles started to bleed from how hard I was hitting it.” Steelbeak said. “Thankfully they didn’t keep it shut for long but they didn’t explain how and why that happened.” 

“How did you figure out it was magnets or something?”

“The one that made the prosthetic did tell me after several weeks of asking. I guess I finally annoyed her enough. From what I remember, she mentioned magnets being inside of it.” Steelbeak replied.

“Sounds like a really awful environment to be in.” I said.

“Eh. For the most part it’s not so bad. They gave me a free place to live to recover from my surgery and to hide from the police. Can’t beat that since I’m still living there now. Plus this IS a really cool prosthetic. I‘ll take it over my damaged natural beak any day.” Steelbeak chuckled. 

“Yeah… I guess…” I replied, still feeling bad. “Do you still do cockfighting now or just whatever it is with the people that gave you the new beak?”

“Nah. I’m just with FO- friends that gave me the steel beak now.” He said, catching himself. “It’s actually nice having someone to talk to since my… co-workers… won’t listen.” Steelbeak folded his arms. 

“I mean, I don’t mind you talking to me if you need to rant about something.” I replied, shrugging. 

“Really? So you wouldn’t mind giving me your number instead of hoping we would run into each other for a third time after this?” 

“Nope.” I said. 

“Okay. Here.” Steelbeak took his phone out and unlocked it before tossing it over to me. “Put your number in.” 

I did what he said before tossing it back to him.

“Text me and I’ll get your number that way.” I replied and he nodded.

We continued talking for a while before he eventually had to go back to work. A few hours after he left, I texted Launchpad and had him pick me up near the boardwalk. Choosing to keep my new friend to myself for now.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day at Funso's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeey. I finally got around to updating this!

  
Della, Launchpad, and I walked into Funso’s with all the kids. We all felt that Scrooge shouldn’t ever come back so we offered to take them this time around. 

“Everyone has their allowance right?” Della asked and the kids, including Launchpad, nodded. “Good. Now have fun! Lexi and I will be hanging around and playing games if you need us.” 

With that said, all the kids split up. Dewey and Launchpad headed over to that spy game to try and beat it in a quicker time. 

Della and I headed over to the air hockey and started playing against each other. We were mainly talking about different things. 

Elsewhere and below us, Bradford contacted Black Heron and Steelbeak about us being there again. 

“We have a problem.” Bradford said, showing the security cameras. 

“They don’t seem to be a problem.” Steelbeak said, mainly focusing on the camera I was on, while glancing over to the one Dewey and LP was on too. 

“Their presence is the problem.” Bradford replied.

“Yeah but… they’re not snooping around or anything. Just playing games. I don’t see why we have to get rid of them.” Steelbeak said. “I mean, if they were snooping then yeah, that would be a big problem.” 

“The further away from us, the better. Whether it be dead or alive.” Bradford said. “Knowing them, they’ll accidentally find our base. We’re lucky the blue one and the pilot/driver thought they were in a game before.” 

“Good going, stupid.” Heron said, getting a loud growl from Steelbeak.

“I’M NOT-” 

“STEELBEAK!” Bradford cut him off before he had a chance to argue. 

“Well…what do you expect us to do about them?” Steelbeak asked, trying to calm down. 

“Don’t raise your voice at high command!” Bradford warned. 

“…Sorry… I’m fine now…” Steelbeak sighed, now in a relaxed way.

“Good. I personally don’t care as long as it doesn’t involve bringing them here or taking them somewhere else. All they have to do is leave.”

“Okay but-” Steelbeak was cut off again.

“And this time, DON’T mess up!” Bradford said before signing off.

“You heard him.” Black Heron said, going back to what she was doing. 

“I don’t see why we have to deal with them.” Steelbeak said, turning away from the screen. “It’s not like McDuck himself is here.” 

“No. But his family is. Now go deal with them and don’t mess up like you did before.” Black Heron replied, getting another angry growl from him. 

“No.” Steelbeak stated. “You go deal with them.” 

“Who is your superior?” Black Heron asked.

“High Command.” Steelbeak replied, folding his arm. 

“Who is directly below them?” She facepalmed herself.

“…You…” Steelbeak huffed, and turned back to the cameras. “I just… why do we have to start a fight with them? We should be fine as long as they aren’t doing anything suspicious.” 

“Okay, smart guy. What do you suggest?” Heron asked.

Steelbeak kept staring at the camera I was on. 

“Why don’t I take over the cameras and just watch them? I’ll have a walkie talkie just in case I need to call for the Eggmen or whoever to attack them if they are getting too close.” Steelbeak suggested. “Having FOWL agents attack here of all places will be suspicious.”

Black Heron thought about this and while she hated to admit it, he was right about that. Especially since Della and I know of her and Beakley’s past with each other. We’ll be able to recognize her instantly. Ditto for Dewey and Launchpad with Steelbeak.

“Urg…” She groaned. “Fine. Go watch the cameras. I’ll contact Bradford and let him know. But if they get close to us, it’ll be on you.”

“Fine.” Steelbeak shrugged, leaving to go to the security room.

A couple of minutes later, Steelbeak sent all of the Eggmen out of the security room. Then he swung his feet up on the desk and placed the walkie talkie on the desk too.

“There. This is a better plan than whatever Black Heron wanted me to do.” Steelbeak chuckled, taking out his phone.

\----------

“Ha! I won again!” I said, as the game beeped, signaling that it was over.

_Vzzzzzzzt! Vzzzzzt!_

“Yeah. Yeah. I bet I can beat you at the Dance game over there!” Della said, pointing in that direction. 

_Vzzzzzzt! Vzzzzzt!_

“You don’t have to make bets. I already know you will.” I replied, as we started walking over to it. 

_Vzzzzzzt! Vzzzzzzt!_

“Wanna play?” Della asked, hopping up on one side. 

“Sure. Why not.” I replied.

_VZZZZZZT! VZZZZZT!_

“Actually, you go ahead and do one round by yourself first. My phone is going nuts and I need to check and make sure it’s not being noisy because of an emergency.” I replied.

“Okay.” Della shrugged. “Stop me if something is wrong.” 

“I will.” I nodded, taking my phone out to see why it was vibrating so much.

Looking at the home screen as the music began to play from the game Della was playing, I saw Steelbeak sent a few texts. 

_\- Hi Lexi!_

_- How was that game of Air Hockey?_

_ \- Did ya win?  _

_\- What are you two up to now? _

I glanced up and started looking around, feeling an odd chill go up my spine for some reason. I mean, usually adults aren’t allowed in without at least one kid. And he has yet to mention having any kids, nieces, nephews, or cousins. But I never felt nervous like this before when it involves him. Thing is, I didn’t see him anywhere.

 _\- You’re not going to find me_. - Steelbeak.

I looked down at my phone again and saw the new text.

 _\- Are you really here?_ \- Me. 

_\- Yeah! I’m really here right now!_ \- Steelbeak. 

Steelbeak face palmed himself. 

“Shit. Maybe I shouldn‘t of…” 

_\- Where at?_ \- Me.

“Uhh…” Steelbeak tried to think of an excuse. “Oh duh!”

 _\- Security room! I work security here! Unfortunately, I can’t leave the room or my boss will kill me_. - Steelbeak. 

_\- Oooh. Okay._ \- Me.

I guess that makes sense. Feeling better, I felt myself relax. Of course he could see me on cameras but I couldn’t see him. 

_\- I’d expect someone like you to be a bouncer at the door to some bar or casino. Not here._ \- Me.

 _\- Yeah…. there’s a lot you don’t know about me. Hehehe._ \- Steelbeak.

 _\- Well, to answer your questions. Air Hockey was fun and I did win._ \- Me.

 _\- Why aren’t you playing that game now?_ \- Steelbeak.

 _\- I wanted to check my phone. I’ll be playing soon._ \- Me.

“Shit!” Della said, getting my attention. “It’s pretty tricky with a prosthetic! Which means… I have to try again! And YOU are playing this time.” She turned around.

“Alright…” I said, sending one more text to Steelbeak.

 _\- I’ll talk to you later. You better get back to work too_. - Me.

 _\- Okay. I’ll be keeping an eye on you and your family._ \- Steelbeak.

After seeing that text, I put my phone away and stepped up next to Della so we could play. Not knowing that he HAD to watch us.

“I take it that everything is alright?” Della asked. “Who was that?”

“No one. Don’t worry about it.” I replied and Della raised an eyebrow before realization struck.

“Oooh!” She gasped. “You met someone! Who is it? What’s his name?” 

Della grabbed me and began bouncing excitedly. 

“I just said don’t worry about it.” I replied, motioning to the game. “Now… let’s play.” 

“I’ll get it out of you sooner or later!” Della said, Putting money inside the machine and hitting two players. 

“Yeah. I know. Maybe we’ll talk about it later.” I said. “At home. Possibly after the kids went to bed.”

“Why? Don’t you want them to know you met someone?” Della asked.

“Not yet.” I said.

“Why is- Oh… he’s a bad boy type, huh?” Della questioned.

“Well… he did admit he went to prison before. Actually, it was during the second time we accidentally ran into each other.” I said, watching Della go through the list of songs. 

“Good. So he shouldn’t be hiding anything. Especially if he came clean about that on the second date.” Della laughed. “What did he get arrested for anyway? Something really bad, I take it?”

“Cockfighting.” I replied. “He actually has a prosthetic beak now because of it.”

“Wow!” Della said, “I can’t imagine what happened to his natural beak… And he said that on the second date???” 

“It wasn’t a date. But we did give each other our numbers after that.” 

“Have you ran into each other again since?” Della decided to ask.

“Not until today. We were mainly just texting each other.” I said.

“Wait. He’s here??” Della asked, shocked.

“Kinda. But he’s in the back of the building, I’m assuming. He’s working and can’t leave the office.” I replied.

“What does he do here?” 

“Security.” I said as she finally chose a song. 

“We’ll finish this conversation later. With or without the kids being nearby to hear us.” Della said and we got into position. 

What we didn’t realize was that Huey and Webby were nearby and overheard us. They were originally going to ask for some extra money for food and drinks but chose not to after hearing that.

“I can’t believe this!” Huey said, shocked.

“I know! Isn’t it amazing!” Webby asked.

“No! I mean- yes it is! But…” He trailed off.

“Huey? Are you okay?” Webby asked, worriedly. 

“No. Not really.” He replied, taking deep breathes. 

“Let’s go sit on a bench. Come on.” Webby pulled him over to a bench where they sat down. “Now what’s up?” 

“It’s just… I’m worried. You know what happened with Fenton… what if we tried to do a date like that with our Aunt Lexi? And it somehow gets destroyed?” Huey asked. 

“Wait. You’re not still upset about that, right? We had no way of knowing what would happen!” Webby argued. “I doubt it’ll happen again.” 

“I guess. But… you never know.” Huey replied. “Aunt Lexi mentioned he went to jail for cockfighting. I’m surprised he could get a security job. Or one that’s during the day.”

“Yeah. That is interesting but it’s not like he’s a murderer or anything.” 

“Still… something seems off. And I’m going to figure out what!” Huey exclaimed. “Come on, let’s go ask them for money since it’s been long enough and they won’t know we heard them!”

“Okay. But I think you’re overreacting a little. I mean, we haven’t even met the guy yet!” Webby said as they got up. 

A few minutes later, Della and I finished our game. We were actually surprised to see them when we turned around and got off the game.

“We were wondering if we could have extra money for some food and drinks.” Webby asked. 

“Sure.” I said, getting my wallet out and handing them some money.

“Thanks!” Huey took it and they ran off. 

“That was so weird… we must’ve gotten a secret character and secret ending last time!” Dewey said as he and Launchpad approached us.

“I think we did!” LP replied.

“What’s up with you guys?” I asked.

“We were playing that spy game but this character we ran into before wasn’t there this time. He must’ve been some rare secret!” Dewey said. 

“That’s my boy and fellow pilot! Getting the secret endings and characters in video games like I did!” Della grinned. 

Meanwhile, Steelbeak sighed in relief when he overheard this. Knowing that they didn’t remember being there so he didn’t fuck up too badly like everyone thought he did.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next 6 or so chapters will now be filler before the climax happens. I have the climax and ending planned out and can't wait to get to it. But I told myself to wait 10 chapters before the climax.

A few days later, I was finally telling Della a little about him since we got some alone time. 

“I can’t believe my cousin from a different family has a boyfriend!” Della said, bouncing up and down.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I reminded her.

“Not yet!” Della replied. 

“How do you know?” I decided to play along.

“Listen, you don’t have to worry about the kids anymore. You’re already in college again. Might as well get into a relationship too.” Della said.

“What if I don’t want a relationship?”

“What if I said I’ve known you for a long time and yes you do?” She replied back to me.

“I’ll tell you that you’re crazy.” I smiled. 

_Vzzzzzzzt_

_Vzzzzzzzt_

I took my phone out of my pocket to read the text message.

“Is it him? What did he say?” Della asked.

“He wants to meet for lunch.”

“Aha!” Della fist bumped the air. “It’s a date whether you like it or not!” 

“Perhaps.” I rolled my eyes.

“When are you going?” Della asked.

“Right now it seems.” I said, looking at the new text message.

“Going where?” LP asked, coming into the living room from the kitchen.

“I’m meeting someone for lunch.” I replied.

“Oh cool! I was just heading out. I’ll give you a lift.” LP said. “It might take a few hours before I can get you though.”

“That’ll be awesome! Thank you, Launchpad.” I said, getting up and following him to the door.

“You better tell me the details when you get back!” Della called out.

“I will!” I called back as we left. 

About 10 minutes later, Launchpad dropped me off and headed inside the building. A waitress at the front led me to where Steelbeak was waiting.   
He was looking out the window, kinda pissed off.

“Here you are.” The waitress said.

“Thanks!” I replied, sitting down and got handed a menu. 

“Thanks for meeting me. I really needed to get away for a bit.” Steelbeak said, looking like he was in a better mood. 

“It’s hard to believe your co-workers at Funso’s are such dicks like you’ve said.” I replied. “What were they doing this time?”

“Huh?” He seemed confused. “OH! Oh right! Not them. I work at two places. It’s the other one’s co-workers that are constantly calling me stupid and muzzling my beak. Which is what they did today.” Then he muttered quietly. “I’m not stupid…”

“That sucks. At least you were able to get away for lunch. Why do you work there again?” I asked.

“They gave me my beak and at this point, my loyalty is with them. I can’t get away or leave even if I wanted to.” Steelbeak replied. “But enough about that nonsense. What were you doing with Launchpad?” 

“Nothing. He gave me a ride.” I said, looking at the menu. 

“Why didn’t you just drive yourself?” Steelbeak questioned as a waitress came over and introduced herself. 

“Are you ready to order?” She asked.

“I am. I’m dying for a berry sangria. I’ll also have eight wings. Half ranch and half garlic. And a side of fries too.” I replied. 

“I’m sorry. Can you please repeat that, hon. I think I heard you correctly but want to be positive.” She said.

“Sure. I’ll have-”

“A berry sangria to drink. Eight wings, half ranch and half garlic. And a side of fries too.” Steelbeak replied. “What? I understood her perfectly.” Then continued with his order. 

“I’ll get that put in for you. And grab your drinks.” She said, walking away.

“I can’t believe she couldn’t understand you.” Steelbeak growled.

“May I remind you that I have a speech impediment? This is normal and I don’t care anymore.” I said.

“I care. And like I said, I was able to understand you perfectly.” Steelbeak responded. “Now about why you didn‘t drive yourself here.”

I felt my face heat up, my ears pinned back to my head, and looked out the window, feeling embarrassed. 

“What’s wrong, babe?” Steelbeak said. “Wait. Did you lose your license?” 

“Actually… I never had it to begin with.” I finally replied. 

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Not here anyway.” I said.

“Okay. We’ll go back to my place after here.” Steelbeak shrugged.

“What about your work?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” Steelbeak waved it off.

“Well… alright…” I said, as the waitress came back over with our drinks and out them down. “Thanks.”

After she walked away, I realized something.

“Huh. First time I didn’t get carded for this.” I said, taking a drink.

“Yeah. Me too.” SB said, taking a sip of his own drink. “She probably forgot to ask.”

“…Or something.” I added, getting an idea on why she didn‘t ask.

\-------------------

About a hour and a half later, we finished eating and was leaving with what was leftover.

On the way to his place, which was in St. Canard, I texted LP and told him I had a ride and to not worry.

It took a while to get over the bridge due to traffic, but we finally arrived at his place. It was a fairly decent apartment in a good and probably expensive neighborhood. 

“So… why don’t you have your license?” Steelbeak asked, remembering that conversation.

“Oh! Uh… I just have really bad anxiety with driving. And get a panic attack whenever I’m behind the wheel.” I replied. 

“Here. I’ll put that in the fridge.” Steelbeak said, taking my leftovers and I followed him into the kitchen. “Well, that’s nothing to be embarrassed over since you can’t control that.”

“I guess…” I trailed off. 

“Urg…” He groaned and rubbed his shoulder as he shut the fridge. “What I would do for a massage.”

“Want me to give you one?” I asked.

“Will yah?” Steelbeak asked and I nodded. “Sweet! Come on, you can sit on the couch and I’ll be on the floor in front of yah.” 

We walked over to the couch and sat down. As I gave his shoulders a massage, he started going off about those other employees again. 

“…But the other day we found out I didn’t fuck up as much as they thought I did.” Steelbeak finished. “But they refuse to admit it.”

“Sounds like a group of assholes.” 

“You can say that… wait. Are you saying I’m an asshole?” Steelbeak asked.

“No…?” I said, as he turned around and put his hands on either side of me. 

“Then what do you think I am?” He asked, his beak next to my left ear.

“Uh…“ I trailed off, as he continued to tower over me. “I don’t know exactly but… you’re a hot son of a bitch. So you have that going for you.”

It took him a second to realize what I said. A few moments later,   
I heard a really loud and sexy growl in my ear.

“I guess that’s true. Hehehe.” Steelbeak laughed and sat back down. 

“I…uh… right…” I said, now flustered.

I was not expecting to hear that kind of a growl.

After a minute, I finally snapped out of it and resumed giving him a massage on his shoulders. In the meantime, Heron was texting Steelbeak and was asking where the Hell he was and why he has yet to come back.

He comes up with some excuse but something tells Heron that he is lying and checks the security cameras outside of his apartment complex. Sure enough, he sees us walk into it.

“What is he doing with a McDuck…?” Heron questions to herself. “He’s not… there’s no way… he’s too stupid for that.”

After shutting off the screen, She went to find Gandra Dee since FOWL has all agent’s phones bugged to keep everyone in line. They wanted to see what was on his. 

Gandra hacks into his phone and they see his texts. To their disgust, he was for sure texting me for quite some time. Even before we went to Funso’s and he suggested...

“Of course! That’s why he wanted to watch the cameras when they were at Funso’s!” Heron growled angrily.

“I wonder how they even met or what he plans on doing.” Gandra says, as she finished hacking his phone.

“No clue. But let’s leave this between us. There’s no need to include High Command right now. Maybe he isn’t so stupid after all and is planning something. Besides, it’s an extended family member not one of the main family or Scrooge himself.” Heron replied. 

“Okay. I won’t tell them. Do you want me to continue hacking his phone for new texts between them?” Gandra asked.

“No. Not unless I ask you to.” Heron says and Gandra nodded. “I’ll see you later. Get back to work.” 

Gandra nodded again and did just that. Heron left the room to head back to her area and was texting Steelbeak again.

 _\- Hanging out with any McDucks or extended family members?_ \- Heron 

_\- McDucks? I HATE those guys! You already know that. Why would I hang out with any of them?_ \- Steelbeak

 _\- Just wondering. Get back here NOW!_ \- Heron

 _\- Fine… I’ll be there in like 20 minutes. Maybe 30_. - Steelbeak

Steelbeak put his phone away and turned back to me.

“I gotta head back to work. I don’t know how close I can get to McDuck Manor but I’ll drop you off as close as I can get.” Steelbeak said, both annoyed and kinda sadly. 

“Okay. I can walk the rest of the way.” I said, getting up and going to get my leftovers from the fridge. 

After dropping me off, Steelbeak headed back to FOWL’s base.

“It’s about time.” Heron says as he walked in. “Where the Hell were you even at?” 

“Can’t a guy go get lunch and have some me-time for a few hours?” 

“I guess…” Heron said, suspiciously. “Have you been planning anything recently?” Steelbeak tilted his head, confused. “Like what you might do to the McDuck clan when we finally strike?” 

“Oh! Uh… no. Should I do something like that?” Steelbeak asked.

“You can if you want.” Heron rolled her eyes. “Just stay away from them until High Command gives the…well…command!”

“Yeah okay. But I was already staying away from them.” Steelbeak said, not realizing that Heron knows something. 

Heron turned away and face palmed herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment or give kudos(or both)


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey. A second small chapter within a few hours of the other! (I'm as shocked as you are)
> 
> The rest of the filler chapters should have some small plot related stuff going on too. Or i'll try to add them anyway.

I was at the mall with Della. For one reason or another, the guys wanted to get into some gala. Louie had asked if I could come with them as another pair of eyes and to be a lookout for security that might be catching on to all of us being there when were not suppose to be. 

Since I wasn’t doing anything, I agreed. Then he told be to go buy a fancy dress or outfit for it. Meanwhile, he and the Caballeros were busy getting things ready too.

And now here I am, at the mall, with Della at my side helping me pick something as quickly as we could for tonight. 

As we walked into another store, I didn’t notice someone had been following us for a bit after realizing we were there too. Or using an earpiece to listen in on our conversation and staying hidden. 

“How about this? Zip me.” I came out in a red dress that got darker towards the bottom at my knees. It had some sparkles at the bottom and also had a strap go around my neck. 

“Ooo! This looks perfect for the gala! You know what else this could be used for?” Della asked, after zipping me up.

“Don’t say it.” 

“A date!” She replied to herself.

“You said it.” I face palmed myself. “And no. This is getting used for tonight then going into my closet.”

“Until you and that mystery guy friend of yours go on another date. And yes, going to lunch together counts as a date. Especially if you drop everything to go.” Della said. 

“Is that a problem? Last I checked, I wasn’t super needed whenever I went and you guys got on just fine.” I questioned.

“Not exactly. But unless you plan on marrying him, family comes first.”

“I can’t help that he has two jobs. One of which has shitty co-workers and feels the need to ask me to go out somewhere so he can vent about it. Then again, I told him I was available for that type of thing since he doesn‘t seem to have anyone else.” I said. 

“That’s… actually kind of sad. Okay. So I get why you drop everything to go to him. Knowing the context makes it understandable. But come on, this is a perfect fancy dinner date dress.” Della said replied, motioning up and down towards the dress. 

“It is kinda cute. And more my style than the others I tried on. So you think it’s perfect for the gala?” I asked.

“Definitely! Wait until we do your hair for it too!” Della said. “I’m already looking forward to the second time when-”

“-Della…” I cut her off in a warning tone. 

“Why don’t you want to talk about possibly going on dates with someone?”

“Because it’s been over 10 years since I went on a date with a guy. I don’t even know if I know how to be in a relationship with anyone now.” I said. 

“Oh please! That kind of stuff doesn’t just disappear from your mind.” Della replied. “Look, just give it a shot? It doesn‘t hurt to ask if he wants to go on a date or something.” 

“But it does hurt my anxiety and self esteem.” I said, looking down at my chubby stomach that can be seen with the dress. “I mean, look at this. I was never pregnant and yet I look like I was and never lost the weight.” 

“That is nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, isn’t it a thyroid issue? He’ll understand and not… I don’t know… block you for making the first move first and asking him for a date when he doesn’t want to and says no.” 

“Yeah no. That still isn’t happening.” I shake my head and go back into the changing room.

“Can you at least admit whether you want to date him or not?” Della asked.

“…Yes…” I said, quietly.

“What was that?” Della asked, her ear at the door.

“Yes! Fine! I do like him like that! And no, I have no idea when I started to gain feelings for him to begin with! It just… happened.” I replied, opening the door. “Also, I need you to unzip me. Please.” 

“Yes! She finally admits it.” Della woohoos as I turn around and she unzips the dress. “Guess who will one day be on a date with you know you?” 

“If he asks first that is.” I said, closing the door again to change. “I’m still not asking him.” 

“Fine…“ Della said. “At least you admitted to your crush. Feel better?“

“I guess…“ I trailed off. “How are we on time?” 

“We are… shit! We better hurry up. So is that the dress?” Della asked, looking at her phone. 

“I think so. Call the guys and let them know we’ll be checking out soon. We still need to do my hair… fuck! What about accessories?” I asked.

“I’ll see how much time we have for sure and if we can stop for jewelry too. I think I might have a bracelet and a necklace that will work with it but we will need earrings too.” Della said. “Got to make you look really fancy for this thing. I’ll be out of the store on a bench. Check out and meet me.”

“Okay.” I replied.

After checking out and getting my bag, I rushed out to Della.

“So we got to go now. We still have time to do your hair since it might take a while. I also called Mrs. Beakley and she said she probably has good accessories that will work if I don’t have anything.” Della said, as I walked up to her with my bag.

“Then let’s head home and do my hair.” I replied as she got up and we started walking to the department store that the car was nearby. 

“This is going to be so much fun!” Della said, excitedly. “I’ve missed doing makeovers with you.”

“Ditto.” I smiled. 

“Hmm.” He hummed and took the earpiece out before heading back to the tailor he dropped some suits off at earlier.

\------------

Later on, I was walking downstairs to the entrance where the guys and kids were waiting. 

“Oh my~” José gasped. “You look lovely, minha querida.” **(My darling- Blame google translate if that is wrong.)**

“Si~” Panchito added. “You look fantastico!” 

“Thank you, guys. But why do I have to wear heels like this? I mainly wear wedge heels for a reason.” I replied. 

“Because it’s a fancy place, Aunt Lexi.” Louie replied.

“Wedge heels can be fancy.” I told him then shrugged. “But fine. If I break my ankles, then the Caballeros are paying for my hospital bill.”

“What!?” The guys said in unison.

“Fine by me.” Louie said, heading to the door.

“Lexi…” Donald started. 

“I was joking.” I turned back to them as I tried to walk by. “You know damn well that Uncle Scrooge would be the one paying.” 

The guys seemed relieved to hear this and helped me out to the car. 


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steelbeak continues to be an OOC sweetheart

  
After everything went down tonight, I was enjoying watching the Three Caballeros play and got to know Daisy too. She seemed super sweet and I could just tell from the way she and Donald stared at each other that they were in love. 

‘Oh fuck. Is this how… no it can’t be. As far as I know, my family and friends haven’t even met him yet.’ I thought to myself.

“So how do you know Donald?” Daisy asked.

“He, his twin sister, and I grew up together. Their uncle kinda adopted me as a niece early on and it’s been that way since.” I replied. “We’ve always called each other cousins.”

“Aww that’s sweet.” Daisy said. “Do you not have a Dognose family?”

“I do. My family is perfectly fine. But I live with my duck uncle and the rest of my adoptive family at his place.” I said. ‘We’ve been through a lot over the years and it would be weird being away from them. Especially since I will go on adventures every once in a while. So it’s easy to get together when we’re in the same place.”

“That makes sense.” Daisy said. 

“I also helped raise my nephews so I was going to go where they went anyway to continue to help raising them.” I added.

“And it’s been a blast since we moved back in with our Uncle Scrooge!” Dewey said, turning to us. 

“Scrooge McDuck is your uncle!?” Daisy said, surprised. “So that means you all live in his mansion.”

“You got it.” Louie said. 

“Wow! That must be amazing.” Daisy said.

“It sure beats the houseboat we were living in.” Louie replied. 

“Why were you living there?” Daisy asked, curiously.

“Let’s just say something happened and it lasted for 10 years. But we’re all doing fine now and that issue took care of itself.” I replied, trying not to go into too many details.

“I see. Well, at least everything is better now.” Daisy said, a bit confused but respecting our privacy. 

Once the guys were done, we found a table and continued talking there.

“Look at that, José. Our little Donald and Lexi are in love~ Too bad the guy she likes isn’t here.” Panchito said, after we sat down. 

“I’m not… did Della tell you?” I asked.

“Si.” Panchito nodded.

“Urg…” I groaned. “I guess this is fine since I’m close to you two.” 

“We love you too.” José gave me a sideways hugged. 

“Sorry. Did you say something?” Donald snapped out of it.

“Don’t worry about it, amigo.” Panchito laughed. 

“So where do you two live?” Daisy asked.

“I’m from Mexico and José is from Brazil. We moved into Donald’s houseboat a while back when we first tried to get our band going again.” Panchito replied. 

“Ooo! You still have the houseboat? Is it on the ocean or bay?” Daisy asked.

“Yeah! And… not exactly.” Donald rubbed his neck.

“It’s been needing repairs so it’s in our uncle’s pool at the moment.” I said.

“Oh! Well, that makes sense.” Daisy replied.

“Do you live here in Duckburg?” José asked.

“I do! I moved back about 12 years ago to help my sister raise my nieces and became a fashion designer and party planner in the process.” Daisy replied. “They’re actually about your age.” She said to Dewey and Louie.

“Really? Maybe you can bring them over to the mansion one day when you come to hang out with Uncle Donald.” Dewey said.

“Please bring them! I would love to have more gal pals!” Webby said, excited for the chance to know more girls her age.

“I’m sure my sister will be fine with that.” Daisy giggled. 

“What are you doing, minha querida?” José asked, when he noticed I had moved back from the table. 

“I’ve been in these damn shoes long enough.” I said, taking the heels off and putting them in my lap so I won’t forget about them. “Ah… much better. Hopefully I won’t get blisters from these.” 

I then began rubbing my feet from the pain the heels gave me. 

“Don’t like heels, huh?” Daisy asked.

“I’m fine with wedges but not these.” I said, holding up one shoe. “I’m very surprised I didn’t break my ankles over it.”

“Yeah. Those do look painful. Especially if you aren’t used to wearing those kind of heels.” Daisy replied. “Are you related to them, Webby?”

“No.” Webby laughed. “My granny is the housekeeper and we live with them too.” 

“Oooh. Well, I’ll be sure to bring my nieces over one day.” Daisy replied.

“Maybe you can bring them this week or next weekend.” Donald suggested.

“That’s fine with me. I’m not doing anything. I’ll ask my sister and see what she says tomorrow.” Daisy smiled. 

“Yes!” Webby and Dewey said in unison and high-fived each other.

“So do you think you can make me a dress like this?” Webby asked. “I love the dress you made so much!”

“Aw thank you, hon. I’ll see what I can do about making you a dress like this and others that I have done too.” Daisy grinned.

“Yay!” Webby bounced in her chair. 

“I’ll be right back.” I said, getting up from the chair, still holding my shoes and about to walk away with them. “I need to go to the bathroom.” 

“Okay.” Panchito nodded.

A couple of minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom, still very much barefoot. As I was making my way back to the table, I got grabbed from behind and dragged into another room. 

Swinging my leg, I kicked whoever was behind me in the shin.

“OW! Fuck that hurt!” Steelbeak winced, letting me go. 

“Steelbeak? What the fuck are you doing here!? And WHY did you grab me like that? Surely you knew how I was going to react?” I asked, turning to see him behind me. 

At least I was positive it was him from what light was shining through from the windows. Turning towards the door, I saw the light switch and flicked the light on. 

Sure enough, the rooster with a beak of steel was here. 

“Came to see what you were up to, babe.” Steelbeak replied. 

“How did you even know I was here?” I asked, curiously. “Wait… you haven’t met my cousins and friends yet, right?” 

“Uh no…” Steelbeak said, rubbing his shin. “I may have overheard that… cousin…was it?” I nodded. “Well, I heard you and your cousin mention a gala when we went by each other earlier at the mall. Looked it up, and this was the only one going on tonight.”

“Why didn’t you come over or text me?” I asked, feeling bad for kicking him in the shin. “You okay, Steely?” 

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’ve been through worse. I think the surprise of getting kicked hurt more.” Steelbeak laughed. “I had something I had to do so I couldn’t chat. But I wanted to see what the big deal is. So… what is the big deal about this place?”

“My friends and I kinda snuck in and was trying to get them on some website or something. Which didn’t happen due to my other cousin’s singing but they had fun. I think my cousin actually found the love of his life so something good came from this.” I said, then realized something about him. “I take it you snuck in like we did?”

“Yep.” He nodded, proudly. “Only way I could get in was to sneak in like you guys did. You look gorgeous in that dress, babe.” 

“Oh! Thank you! You really think so?” I said, getting flustered from the sudden compliment. 

“You look perfectly perfect to me. Why are you so insecure about your weight? You look hot to me.” He says, with a wink. “Oh! I actually got you something while I was at the mall earlier!”

I watched him take out a small box and open it. 

“What a crazy coincidence that it matches your dress. The guy said that they‘re rubies.” Steelbeak said, hoping he sounded like he didn‘t know. 

“What’s even crazier is that’s my birthstone.” I said, feeling like crying and covering my snout. “They are beautiful.” 

“Want to put them in?” He asked and I nodded as I set my shoes down on the floor next to me. “Why aren’t you wearing those?”

“My feet were killing me.” I replied and he gave an understanding nod. 

“Here.” He took one out and handed it to me. 

After putting it in one ear, he handed me the other so I could do the same thing again. Putting both earrings near the tips of my ears. 

“How do they look?” I asked, testing to make sure both were in.

“They look great!” He grinned, bending down to grab the shoes so he could hand them and the box to me.

“Thank you, Steely!” I hugged him as he stood back up. 

I could feel him tremor for a few moments as his heart started beating very loud and fast. It even seemed like his breath was stuck in his throat and he couldn’t release it from there.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back as I felt him try to calm down. 

“Y-You’re welcome.” Steelbeak said, trying and failing to make it so he didn’t sound startled. 

“You alright?” I asked, after staying like that for a minute or two in silence.

“Yeah…I’m okay.” Steelbeak smiled. “Better than that, actually.” 

“Been a while since you’ve been hugged?” I tilted my head.

“You can say that.” He shrugged, handing me my shoes and the box.

“Well… thank you again. I really love them.” I smiled back.

“You’re welcome.” He said.

“It’s been long enough. Are you ready to meet some of my family?” I asked since a few were nearby.

“Oh! Uh…” Steelbeak trailed off and looked away before shaking his head. 

“No?” I asked.

“No. Not yet. I’m not ready to meet them yet.” Steelbeak clarified.

‘I’m actually not ready to get close to any Mcducks. It’s bad enough I’m getting close to one behind FOWL’s backs.’ Steelbeak thought to himself. 

“Okay.” I shrugged. “It can wait for another time.”

“Good.” Steelbeak said, relieved. 

I noticed there was a couch in the room we were in and suggested we sit down to catch up for a little bit. Steelbeak agreed and we did just that.  
After a while, I got texts asking where I was so I came up with a lie while still assuring them I was okay and still in the building. 

What seemed like a few minutes was actually a few hours. We had long since left the room to drink some alcohol and eat. All while trying to avoid my family for Steelbeak’s sake. 

Eventually, someone came up and asked me to confirm who I was.

When I did, they said my family was looking for me so we could go home. 

“Okay. Where are they?” I asked.

“Over by the entrance.” She said.

“Tell them to stay there and that I’ll be there soon.” I replied. 

She nodded and walked away. I sat back down in a chair and put my shoes back on until we got to the car or to the mansion. 

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow or something.” Steelbeak said, helping me back to my feet once the heels were on.

“Okay.” I nodded. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” Steelbeak smiled and turned to walk away.

Then he remembered something. 

“Lexi.” He turned back and said before he could stop himself.

I turned back to him but he shook his head. 

“Never mind. Good night.” Steelbeak replied before quickly leaving.

‘I can’t. It’s one thing to be friends with her. But if FOWL found out I asked a McDuck for a date…well… they’ll probably kill us both. I’ve heard they killed agents that went behind their backs or tried to fight them by throwing them into six trash compactors!’ Steelbeak thought to himself. 

Confused, I headed to the entrance and met up with the others.

“There you are!” Donald said, relieved. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Did you always have those earrings in?” Panchito asked and when I shook my head, he then gasped. “He was here, wasn’t he!?” I shrugged. “So that’s where you were all night!” Panchito laughed and gave me a high-five. 

Meanwhile, back at the mansion. 

“Gah! If only I knew what his real name is!” Huey said, still awake and sitting in his and his brother’s room on his laptop. “I don’t know what it is… but something does not feel right. I know it’s crazy since I never even met him and all but…”

Huey sighed, trying to calm down and not let the anger that got passed down to him take over.

“I’m not going to let Aunt Lexi get hurt like how Fenton did.” Huey said, continuing what he can research-wise. “I just need some peace of mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huey being a precious bean trying to keep his family safe. 
> 
> I've actually done a shippy art with Lexi and Steelbeak that's on my Tumblr art side-blog: inky-animatronic. I still can't decide between SteelSnout or SteelMuzzle as a ship name. SS sounds right since she has a snout but SM sounds cooler.
> 
> Kudos/comments are appreciated and loved.
> 
> And yes i've been trying to put the 'perfectly perfect' line in this somewhere. As well as lyric references to the song of the same name by Simple Plan.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the last of the filler chapters! Now the plot can get rolling!

  
“I can’t believe I missed the chance to meet him!” Della said, holding one of my ears and looking at the earrings. “These are gorgeous! So he was at the mall when we were?” 

“Hm hmm.” I hummed. “He was busy and couldn’t talk.” 

“But what about last night?” Panchito asked. “You disappeared on us for a few hours. Surely if you were with him, he could’ve met us.” 

“He didn’t want to.” I replied. “I asked and he said he wasn’t ready just yet.”

“But WHEN will he be ready? It’s already been a few weeks since the two of you met.” Panchito said.

“He’ll be ready when he says he’s ready.” I said. 

“Damn it! I wish I knew he was at the mall.” Della cursed.

“I didn’t even know it until he told me.” I replied. 

“So what did you two do last night?” Daisy, who was able to come over today with her nieces, asked.

“Just hung around, drunk alcohol, ate food, and so on.” I shrugged. 

“And avoided us?” Donald asked.

“Like I said, he didn’t want to meet you yet. So we had to avoid you all night.” I replied. 

“Ooo! Maybe you four could go on a double date?” Della suggested. 

“What!?” Donald questioned.

“Not happening.” I said and Donald nodded.

“Agreed. And for several reasons!” Donald added.

“Oh come on! Maybe he’ll feel better if someone that wasn’t also a family member was with you guys.” Della said.

“Still no.” I replied.

“It’s a no from me too.” Donald said. “It’s not going to happen. He’ll come meet us when he’s ready.”

“This.” I nodded. 

“Fine.” Della groaned. 

“I have an idea!” José started. “Why don’t us six go out for lunch? Maybe we’ll run into him as long as someone stays in our line of sight!”

“I’m up for that but what about the girls?” Daisy asked.

“They’ll be fine here.” Della said. “I’m sure Scrooge, Mrs. Beakley, or Duckworth will keep an eye on them and the rest of the kids.”

“Okay. Then let’s go.” Daisy said, getting up with the rest of us following.

We walked over to the door as the kids ran by.

“April, May, June, I’ll be back! Stay here and listen to the adults that will be watching you!” Daisy called out.

“Okay, Aunt Daisy!” The girls called back.

Then we left and headed to Daisy’s car since she had a third row and was able to fit all of us. 

About two hours later, we had lunch and was now walking around the city.

“Well, I guess he isn’t going to show up this time.” I smirked. “You ready to head home now?” 

“Not yet! He has to be around here somewhere!” Della replied.

“For all we know he’s probably at work.” I responded. “He’s not going to show up.”

“It’s Sunday.” Della stated.

“He has two jobs. One could very well be today.” I reminded her.

“Damn it… you’re right about that. Do we know the second place?” She asked. “If he isn’t at Funso’s he must be there.”

“Della. We’re not going to go bother someone while they are working.” Donald rolled his eyes.

“Si. That’s a bit too far. He’ll come around when he’s ready.” Panchito said.

“I know.” Della sighed. “I’m just really excited for you.”

“And I appreciate it. You know I do.” I smiled. “And no, I don’t know his second job anyway.” 

“Well, maybe he isn’t going to show up.” Della finally accepted. “Come on, let’s get back to our kids.” 

We headed back to where we left Daisy’s car and headed back to the mansion. The kids even asked if we ran into him but we told them we didn’t. 

For the next several hours, we simply hung around the mansion while the kids did whatever. Eventually, it was time for Daisy and the girls to leave.

“Aunt Daisy, can we come back some time?” May asked.

“Sure. if it’s okay with you, Mr. McDuck.” Daisy asked him, who has since joined us.

“That’s fine by me. You’re welcome here anytime.” Scrooge said and the girls high-fived each other.

“Great!” Daisy grinned. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Bye.” Della said and we waved.

“I’ll show you out.” Donald said, opening the door for them and leaving.

“If we need to get anyone on a date, it’s him.” I whispered to Della.

“THAT. I can agree with! It’s like they were made for each other!” Della replied and turned to the remaining Caballeros. “Wanna help us get them together?” 

“Si!” Panchito nodded.

“I thought you’d never ask.” José added.

“Oh god…” Huey said, feeling like panicking. 

“Huey? You alright?” I asked, noticing this. 

“He’s just worried about that guy you like and Daisy.” Dewey responded for his brother.

“We tried to tell him there’s nothing to worry about. That both of them are perfectly fine.” Louie added.

“I would suggest doing a background check but we already know about Steelbeak’s past.” I replied. “Huey, I’m sure everything is okay.”

“I don’t know…” Huey shook his head. “Something just doesn’t feel right. A Junior Woodchuck can always sense if something is wrong and can tell if someone is trustworthy. I feel that way about Daisy since I got to meet her. But until I meet Steelbeak, I can only assume something isn‘t right about it.” 

“Well, maybe I can convince him to do a phone call. Will hearing his voice ease your worry a little until you meet him?” I suggested.

“I don’t know…maybe…?” Huey wondered. “It’ll be something… yeah… it‘ll be something for now until I meet him.”


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot is finally happening again with no more fillers needed!

A few days later, Steelbeak and I wandered around the city one afternoon when he was off for lunch. 

We were mainly being silent and just enjoying the other’s company in peace and quiet. It was a nice day and not too many people were out since it was a work day. Even for lunchtime, there wasn’t a lot out. 

As we walked down the boardwalk near the beach, someone called out for me. Stopping and looking over on the other side of the road, I saw Huey was there. After checking the road for cars, he ran over.

“Hi, Huey.” I greeted him. 

“Hi, Aunt Lexi. You must be Steelbeak? I’m her nephew, Huey.” Huey said, introducing himself.

“Nice to meet you, squirt.” Steelbeak kneeled down.

Huey shook his hand with one of his and kept his phone in the other. Neither of us realized that he was taking a picture in a sneaky way. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “You know to use the buddy system until you kids are a little older.”

“I know. The others are in that store. I saw you and wanted to come say hi.” Huey pointed to across the street. 

“Oooh. Well, I guess that’s fine.” I said, knowing how he was feeling about Steelbeak lately. 

“I would love to stay and chat, but I didn’t exactly tell them where I was going. I’ll see you back at the mansion, Aunt Lexi. Nice to meet you, Steelbeak.” Huey said, waving us goodbye.

“See yah, kid.” Steelbeak waved back. “You’re a really close family, huh?”

“Hm hmm.” I hummed. “We do everything together. And it’s hard not being protective of each other. Especially since I helped raise the boys.”

“Must be nice.” Steelbeak frowned. 

“I take it you didn’t get as lucky?” I asked and he nodded.

“Well, sort of. My mom was amazing! She was basically raising my two older sisters and I as a single parent. My dad…well… he always wanted a son but when he finally got one, he used me as an outlet. A stress reliever. Sure he abused my mom and sisters too over the years… but I think I got the worse of it.” Steelbeak replied. “Hell, I think my issues with my intelligence started with him and got worse when I got this job.”

“I’m sorry.” I frowned too. “How is your mom and sisters?” 

“I don’t know…” He shook his head. “I lost touch when I got older and into cockfighting. Then I got arrested and I haven’t heard from them since.”

“Do you know about your dad?” I struggled to ask.

“He was arrested when I was a teen. He tried to hurt my mom and I finally fought back to save her. She went to the neighbors to contact the police. When they arrived, they took us to different hospitals. I made a full recovery and he was arrested and charged with several counts of abuse and other crimes that he committed over the years.“ He started.

“I know when I saw him in court, his beak was messed up from what I did. He probably needed his own prosthetic.” Steelbeak continued. “You can imagine mine and my sister’s surprise when it was revealed he was some BIG crime boss that got taken out by his teenage son. He and mom kept it from us for all of those years. That said, his attitude and why we were hurt so bad almost every time he came home finally made sense.”

“But he was taken to this big prison with a lot of security. There was no way he could break out of there. And they didn’t want to give him a chance to since they knew the danger my family was in now. Just in case he had guys around, the authorities up and moved us across the country to St. Canard in the witness protection program.” Steelbeak finished. 

“Wow. That’s really fucking awful.” I didn’t know how else to respond to hearing that. “I wonder if your mom and sisters are still in the area?”

“I think so. I don’t think they would ever go back to New York.” Steelbeak sighed. “I just wish I could see them again but I don’t know where they are or if they want to see me. They never even visited when I was in jail. And I know they knew because they were at my court hearing.”

“Yeah… I don’t know where they would be or why they stopped keeping in touch with you. At least your dad should still be locked up on the other side of the country. So for the most part, they should be safe from him.” 

“That’s true.” Steelbeak said. “I think they are still alive and safe. Maybe they just don’t want to deal with someone with a criminal history.” 

“Maybe.” I said. 

“I guess a family just wasn’t meant for me.” Steelbeak sighed again and said quietly. “It’s clear my own wants nothing to do with me.”

“You never know. You might find an honorary family like I did. You still have many years left on this planet so anything can happen.”

“For now I do anyway.” Steelbeak said then shook his head. “Come on, let’s get off of this subject and talk about something else.”

“I can agree with that.” I nodded, ready to move on from the depressing conversation.

\--------------------------

Meanwhile, Huey didn’t come with anyone. He had somehow followed us until he felt it was the right time to come over and quietly take a picture of Steelbeak. 

Once he got the picture and saw it came out good, he headed over to the Money Bin to talk to Fenton. If anyone can help him, it’s Fenton. 

Quickly, he headed down to the lab and was relieved to see him.

“Fenton? Are you busy?” Huey asked, coming over to him.

“Not at all. What’s up, Huey?” Fenton asked, looking over to him.

“I need you to help me with something. It involves my Aunt Lexi and someone she has been seeing. I just get such a bad feeling about this guy so I was hoping you could help me with a few things.” Huey replied.

“Are you sure you aren’t just worried that Lexi is starting to meet people?” 

“It’s not that. I thought it was. But my Uncle Donald met someone too and I instantly felt she was a genuinely good person when I met her. But I met Steelbeak and that didn’t help my bad feeling about him. He‘s lying about something or something about him doesn‘t add up.” Huey explained. 

“Well, I suppose a quick background check wouldn’t hurt. Do you have a picture by chance to use as a Face ID?” Fenton asked.

“Yes! I’ll text it to you. I also need you to hack into Funso’s cameras.” Huey said, sending him the picture as they went over to Fenton’s computer.

“What? Why?” Fenton questioned. 

“He clamed to work there one day when we were there. If we look into the cameras footage, we should see him arriving and leaving that day. Unless they don’t have it anymore…” Huey frowned.

“No… they should still have it. It’ll be in their archives which will be harder to hack but… anything for you, Huey. Especially since you seem serious about this. So it wouldn’t hurt to check this guy out to keep your aunt and my friend safe.” Fenton replied, pulling up a program to help him ID those with criminal backgrounds. “Thank god Mr. McDuck had me install this sort of website to keep track on all criminals in this general area. Not just in Duckburg. Mainly to keep his money bin safe from thieves.”

Fenton went to work and began trying to ID him with the picture. Starting in Duckburg and moving on to St. Canard when there was no matches here. 

“How long is this going to take?” Huey asked, as they watched the screen scan through hundreds of pictures.

“Not long. It’s actually going quickly.” Fenton replied.

**_MATCH FOUND_ **

The computer suddenly said on the screen as it stopped on a picture matching Steelbeak. Only it was his mug shot from when he was arrested. 

“Huh… he had a normal beak when he was arrested. It looks really messed up though.” Huey said.

“Looks like he was arrested for cockfighting. It says he was broken out of jail about a year ago.” Fenton said, reading his file. “He’s been MIA ever since and was never located.”

“So he was never actually released?! Whoever broke him out must’ve gave him his new beak!” Huey said. “And kept him hidden from the police!”

“Did he lie about that?” Fenton asked.

“Not exactly. I know he admitted he went to jail but I’m pretty sure he never told my aunt that he was broken out of it.” Huey replied. 

“Hmm…” Fenton hummed as they kept looking over his file. “Since we have his original name and face, let’s check out that other place. You said it was Funso’s, right?”

“Yeah.” Huey nodded. 

Fenton went to work on hacking into the camera systems at Funso’s. And he began getting into the archived footage on the day Huey told him they were there. 

They began in the morning but when they didn’t seem him, they then switched to lunchtime, and finally when they place was closing. Still not seeing him, they checked every possible camera. 

“Are you sure it was this day?” Fenton asked.

“I’m positive. He’s not showing… like he wasn’t actually there.” Huey said. 

“We would’ve seen him at some point.” Fenton frowned as they continued going over the footage. “Maybe we missed him… let’s start again but not speed it up so much.”

As he was getting ready to begin again, a white box appeared on his screen.  
  
“Fenton? What’s that?” Huey asked.

“I’m not sure…” Fenton said, as words began to appear in the box.

 _\- Hack any Further and yOu’ll be involving yourselves in a big aWfuL mess. One warning: Stop before you hack too far._ \- G.D.

They stared at the screen. 

“….Gandra…?” Fenton said without thinking about it.

 _\- Gandra? We’re just trying to find out more about someone named Steelbeak. It’s important._ \- F.C-C. 

_\- He isn’t your concern_. - G

 _\- He is when it involves a friend and my employer’s niece_. - F

 _\- That son of a bitch! Wait until High Command finds out!_ \- G

“Fenton, look at those… oh my god…” Huey reread the first line and started to panic when he saw what the random uppercase letters spelt.

“What?” Fenton asked. 

“The random uppercase letters…” Huey said and with that, the screens all disappeared before Fenton had a chance to reread it. 

The cameras all disappeared too. The only thing still up was the desktop of Fenton’s computer. Fenton guided Huey over to a area where the computer wasn’t near. Just in case she could still hear them. IF that was her. 

“High Command?” Fenton wondered out loud. 

“It’s FOWL!” Huey said, scared.

“What’s that?” Fenton asked, kneeling down and hugging him as a way to get him to calm down. 

“Fiendish Organization for World Larceny! Webby has some board in her room mentioning it and High Command. In fact, I’m pretty sure her granny, Mrs. Beakley, dealt with them many times in her life.” Huey explained.

“Which means… Gandra is in it! If that was her...” Fenton concluded.

“And if she’s in it… so is Steelbeak. That’s why we didn’t see him on the cameras. He’s not a security guard! Their base is probably under it! They just had him watch us when we were there!” Huey added. 

“Where is Lexi now?” Fenton asked.

“With him.” Huey said, starting to panic.

“Huey, calm down. We’ll rush over to them right away!” Fenton said then yelled out the magic words. “BLATHERING BLATHERSKITE!” 

Quickly, they left the money bin and started flying around as Huey texted me to see where we were. I told him I was walking back to the mansion and he went back to work.

Soon, they did find me and Fenton dropped Huey off to go look for Steelbeak before he went back to FOWL.

“What’s going on, buddy?” I asked, knowing Fenton’s secret. “Why did Gizmoduck rush you over to me?” 

“We have a problem. But it has to wait until we‘re closer to the mansion.” He said and I nodded, still confused on the situation.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wasn't planning on SB's backstory. That part kinda just happened. But I headcanon OG SB is New SB's dad and was a crime boss rather than in FOWL.


	10. Chapter 9

Steelbeak walked through the base after returning to it. 

“There you are! High Command wants to see you!” Another agent said, walking up to me.

“Uh okay.” Steelbeak said, wondering what they wanted.

Quickly, he headed towards the meeting room and walked in to find High Command, Gandra, and Black Heron there. 

“What’s going on?” Steelbeak asked, confused.

“Sit down.” Bradford said, already annoyed with him.

Steelbeak sat down in the chair closest to where he was standing. 

“I don’t understand… what’s going on?” Steelbeak asked again.

“Give us your phone.” Black Heron asked, holding her hand out for it.

“Okay.” Steelbeak said, taking it out and handing it to her.

Heron handed it to Gandra who hooked it up to a projector screen. Then went into his messages with me.

“Do you mind explaining this?” Bradford pointed at the screen. “We only know thanks to all agent’s phones being bugged and Black Heron getting suspicious with what you were doing. She had Gandra hack your phone and they saw these.” 

“What?” Steelbeak asked, shocked. “You can do that!?” 

“Yes.” Bradford confirmed. “Now tell us what the Hell you are doing talking with a McDuck?!” 

“Nothing.” Steelbeak replied. 

“These messages and the security footage we’ve seen of you two says otherwise.” Bradford said.

“We know you only wanted to watch the security cameras when they were here that one day because you wanted to watch them.” Heron added. “And not say… attack them to get them to leave.”

“It doesn’t help that the scientist that works for McDuck recently hacked into Funso’s security cameras to see if you actually worked there.” Gandra said as she and Heron folded their arms. “I wonder why they would think something like that?”

“These messages show you told her about being a security guard the same day you were watching those cameras.” Bradford growled. 

“It was nothing. Just trying to make conversation. Besides… she doesn’t know about our base.” Steelbeak said. “She believed the security guard lie.” 

“For now. What if when she figures it out? Or the rest of them!?” Bradford growled. “You getting friendly and talking with a McDuck could very well fuck us over!” 

“I highly doubt that though.” Steelbeak tried to convince them. 

“WHY were you even talking to her to begin with? When did you even meet for that matter?” Heron questioned. 

“I ran into her at the library a couple of weeks ago.” Steelbeak replied.

“And you just gave each other your numbers?! Despite knowing she is in the family we’re trying to get rid!?” Heron continued to question.

“Well… not that time. It wasn’t until a week or two later when we ran into each other again by accident.” Steelbeak said. 

“And you gave her your number why?” Heron asked.

“I…” Steelbeak trailed off. “…I don’t know.” 

“You don’t know? YOU DON’T KNOW!?” Bradford yelled angrily, slamming his hands down on the table. 

“What were you two even talking about?” Gandra decided to ask, in a much calmer tone.

“Just… stuff… that’s all!” Steelbeak shook his head. “I don’t know… I was angry about something that day we met for the second time and she helped calm me down. We just… bonded… after that.” 

“And you chose to keep in contact with her? Even now, several weeks later!?” Heron asked, face-palming herself.

“I didn’t think-” Steelbeak was cut off.

“Yeah. You didn’t think alright.” Bradford rubbed his forehead, feeling a migraine coming on.

“Look, I knew it was bad!” Steelbeak tried to come up with a lie that they would believe. “But after a while, I realized that this could work out!”

“What are you talking about?” Gandra asked. 

“Instead of cutting off contact, I realized that I could trick her! Get her to trust me enough to make it easier to attack her and her family! Besides, she’s the only one I’m talking to. I’ve been avoiding meeting the others this whole time.” Steelbeak responded.

“He’s telling the truth. At least when it comes to meeting the others.” Gandra confirmed. 

“Doesn’t matter. You still went behind FOWL’s backs!” Bradford said. 

“Look, if you want me to stop talking to her, I will!” Steelbeak said, trying to get them to see he was still on their side. Even accidentally slipping out something he didn‘t mean to say out loud, “We’re just friends. Nothing more than that!” 

“No!” Bradford thought about it for a moment. “…No.”

“What do you mean?” Steelbeak asked, worriedly.

“It’s too late for that. It’s been too many weeks…” Bradford huffed. 

“What’s the plan, sir?” Heron asked.

“Heron, go get a bunch of Eggmen and bring that adopted McDuck here. And I want her ALIVE!” Bradford said. “Gandra, get back to work.”

“Yes sir!” The two women said before leaving. 

“Wait-” Steelbeak tried to stand by sat back down when his beak was suddenly forced shut. “Hmf!?” 

Steelbeak began pounding at his beak as two larger Eggmen came from inside the hallway.

“Grab him and follow me.” Bradford ordered. 

The two Eggmen nodded and grabbed Steelbeak. Then followed him to the cells where they threw Steelbeak into one. 

Once he was inside, Bradford shut it before he could even get up and try to get out. Steelbeak stood up, and walked over to the door, putting his hands on it and looking down to Bradford. 

“We’ll let you out when they get back. You’ll have a chance to prove where your loyalty stands. In the meantime, sit here and think about what you’ve done!” Bradford yelled, in a tone that actually made Steelbeak flinch for the first time in years. 

Steelbeak watched them walk away and leaving the cell room. 

Frowning, he went over and sat against the wall. Wondering what on Earth they were going to do to them. Steelbeak thought about texting her a warning but remembered they have his phone. And it was bugged anyway.

* * *

Elsewhere, Huey and I were slowly making our way up to McDuck Manor and began talking when we were away from the city.

We were about midway there when we stopped and I kneeled down in front of him, facing the city. While Huey was facing the mansion.

“Are you 100% sure?” I asked, unable to believe this.

“Yes! Fenton can confirm it!” Huey said. “I’m sorry, Aunt Lexi. I know you really liked him but…” 

I sighed and shook my head.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were worrying so much. If I wasn’t so caught up in having a friend that could understand me, I would’ve. Then we would’ve worked together to find out about this a lot sooner. Forgive me?” I asked. 

“Of course.” Huey smiled, and hugged me. 

“Aww… how sweet.” Black Heron said, coming out from the woods with Eggmen following her. I watched her walk out as I hugged Huey.

“Huey, run back to the mansion and don’t look back. Get help. Mrs. Beakley and Scrooge should be home.” I whispered to him.

“But what about you?” Huey asked.

“I’ll be fine. Go.” I replied. 

Huey looked between us for a moment before running towards the mansion. A few Eggmen followed after he managed to slip by them. 

“WE’RE NOT HERE FOR-” Heron began to shout. “-Urg… whatever.”

“What do you want?” I growled.

“Did you really think Steelbeak loved you?” Heron decided to say.

“…No. Especially with what I just found out.” I replied.

“Y-You know?” Heron asked. “How!?”

“None of your business. I only just found out today that he works with FOWL. I guess it‘s safe to assume you two are partners in crime since you‘re here?” I folded my arms. 

“He is NOT my partner!” Heron replied, suddenly grabbing my throat with her prosthetic hand, forcing me to be right in front of her. “And you two will never be partners yourselves.” 

Heron grabbed my glasses off of my face and crushed them before throwing them to the side of the road.

‘Thank god I can still see without them. And they were mainly for seeing things far away and for reading.’ I thought to myself.

“Check her for anything else.” Heron said, still choking me with her hand as I struggled to get it to let go. 

Eggmen came up from behind and I began trying to kick them. And even attacked Heron in the process, which pissed her off. 

I guess one got sick of it pretty quickly because he grabbed me from Heron’s grasp and hit me so hard in the face that I got knocked out. 

“Well, that makes things easier.” Heron said, checking my pockets. 

After throwing my phone and wallet to the side where my glasses were, she instructed one of the Eggmen to carry me back to their cars that they had waiting on the other side of the woods.

Completely leaving the Eggmen that followed Huey behind in the process. 

As quickly as possible, they get me back to FOWL’s base. Rushing to meet with High Command.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ruh roh. I can name two characters that are in sooo much trouble! The torture is next but like I said in the tags, it's quick and not in brutal detail. In fact, that chapter is mostly done. I just got to reread it. It'll be posted very soon.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Torture that is very quick and not in brutal detail is in this chapter. The tags mention what they are.

  
“Black Heron, go get Steelbeak and bring him here.” Bradford said as the Eggmen carrying me dropped me to the floor.

“Yes sir.” Heron replied, leaving the room. 

Bradford went over to the table in the room and picked something up. 

“Get ready with the muzzle.” Bradford said and another vulture went to pick it up and got behind me with it. 

Kneeling down, Bradford held out the small thing in his hand up to me nose. Within seconds, I was awake from it.

“Urg…” I groan as I jump awake from something that smells awful being near my nose. “What the Hell…?” I covered my snout.

It wasn’t until something- a muzzle- was forced around my head that I realized who was kneeling in front of me. 

“-ad-ord?” I tried to say as I reached back to get the muzzle off.

Someone, one of the other vultures, slammed a cane into my hands really hard. I winced once but didn’t stop until they did it again, only much harder than the first.

When I brought my hands back in front of me, my left hand had bruises forming on the back of it and ached. 

“Indeed.” Bradford replied, emotionless as he grabbed my snout in one hand and squeezed it tightly. Forcing me to look at him and feel his grip through the muzzle. “You’ve gotten yourself into quite a predicament.”

I tilted my head the best I could. Why? What happened? I brushed a hand across my face and noticed my glasses were gone. Where did they go?

Why was Bradford acting like this towards me? The same goes for the other vultures too. Scrooge won’t like hearing about this.

“Don’t you remember?” Bradford asked.

I tried to remember for a moment before shaking my head.

“Hm. Maybe seeing certain agents will jog your memory.” Bradford said, not letting go on my face.

‘Agents?’ I thought to myself. ‘Am I at SHUSH? No… I wouldn’t be muzzled if I was there… which means…’

“-owl?” I tried to say. 

“Good girl. Seems you don’t have amnesia if you remember that.” Bradford replied, as I internally panicked.

‘What was I doing with FOWL?! And why was he here!?’ I thought to myself, trying to remember what happened. 

“Wat-Happ-en?” I tried to ask him.

“You’ll find out soon.” Bradford said as the door opened from behind me. 

“High Command, we’re here now.” Black Heron said as she and Steelbeak entered the room. 

‘THEM!? THEY’RE HIGH COMMAND!?’ My mind screamed as Black Heron and- oh. Oh my god. I remember now! She was the last one I saw before an Eggman knocked me out!

“Good. I just got her to wake up.” Bradford said as Steelbeak and I looked at each other. 

Why was he… oh right. Well, I feel like a dumbass for getting friendly with an agent of FOWL! My ears pinned down in sadness and anger. What did they even want with me anyway?

I looked at Heron and tried to growl at her while pushing myself up.

The two vultures behind me stomped a foot onto my back to pin me down. Which promptly got me a smack on the face from Bradford. 

“I wouldn’t fight us. There are agents and Eggmen all over. We will find you before you see the sky above.” Bradford warned, grabbing my muzzled snout again. “Now… I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here?”

Huffing, I nodded.

“I heard you and Agent Steelbeak were getting friendly. TOO friendly for my liking. Which means one of you has to go. Might as well be the one in the family we are going to kill anyway.” Bradford replied.

“…What? Why?” I asked, now scared and very confused. Why do they want to kill my family?!

“You are all dangerous and almost destroyed the world one too many times. The Moonvasion pushed us over the edge. You have to be taken out for the world’s sake and ours.” Bradford replied. 

“But…” 

“Unfortunately for you, it won’t be a quick death. Your family will be grieving you soon enough.” Bradford said. “Then we’ll get them.”

“No!” I whimpered out.

“I’ll be honest, you weren’t much of a concern but I know how Scrooge loves you. He’ll be so heartbroken about you being gone that he would…” Bradford trailed off. “…Huh…”

“What is it, sir?” Heron asked.

“This is actually a blessing in disguise. I can’t believe I’m saying this but… thank you, Steelbeak.” Bradford said to him.

“Hm!?” Steelbeak hummed out from around his beak. 

“What? What are you talking about? What he did was stupid!” Heron raised her voice and Steelbeak growled at her.

“Watch it. Or you’ll be muzzled next.” Bradford warned. “Steelbeak, stop that growling. Now… what I mean is, Scrooge and family will be so busy mourning her that they won’t be able to fight back against us.”

“And?” Heron asked.

“AND Steelbeak actually did good by making it easy to get her. Especially since she’s probably in a vulnerable state emotionally-wise due to finding out her best friend is a FOWL agent. It‘ll be easy to break and kill her.” 

“So this dummy getting close to a McDuck actually worked out after all?!”   
Heron questioned.

“Yes.” Bradford confirmed. “The ducks will be grieving after we send her body back to them. We can strike then and take care of the others.” He then turned to me and said, “You’ll be with your family again one day. Just not the way you want to see them.”

I whimpered at that. 

“Steelbeak, you might’ve did good by helping us get one of the McDucks to kill and use to hurt the others. But…” Bradford turned to him. “You still need to prove where your loyalty stands. Us or your so-called friend.” 

Steelbeak looked between me and Bradford. And tried to talk.

“If you torture her and do a good job, I’ll release your beak since you would prove you chose us. If we come back into the room in a few minutes and she isn’t crying in pain, I’ll kill you for choosing the McDucks.” Bradford said.

“Shouldn’t we stay?” Heron asked. “To make sure he does it?”

“No. He’ll do it. I know he will.” Bradford replied. “Let’s go. You have a table of weapons that can be used. Have fun.”

Bradford led the others out of the room through the only door to stand on the other side for the next couple of minutes.

Steelbeak frowned as they left. Then turned to me. He took a small step in my direction before shaking his head sadly and glancing at the door. 

A moment later, he was walking over to the table and picked a baseball bat up. Tapping it against his hand. 

‘Oh he isn’t…’ I thought to myself, sitting up with my legs ready to back up. 

I saw him huff and start making his way back over. I shook my head at him as he kneeled down by me. He gave me a sad look and tried to speak through his muzzled beak. 

I tried to put one hand on his beak, which caused him to flinch away for a moment. When he saw I wasn’t going to grab it, he let me put my hand on it and even placed one of his on top of it, rubbing it gently. 

‘I’m sorry.’ Steelbeak thought to himself before rubbing his eyes. ‘I’m so very sorry for this and what else I am going to do but…’ He thought about where his loyalty truly stood. Then nodded. ‘FOWL. It was always FOWL. I can’t disobey them anymore and risk getting myself hurt in the process.’ 

Steelbeak stood up and swung the bat back. 

“No!” I whined through the muzzle. 

He gave me another sad look then started swinging down on my legs. Steelbeak did this a few times to both legs before he stopped. I had no idea if they were broken but I know they hurt like Hell. And I likely couldn’t even back up now. 

After putting the bat down, he picked up a choke chain and wrapped it very tightly around my throat, making sure the spikes were trying to dig into my neck. And tugged on the back to drag me over to the wall. 

My legs weren’t broken but it hurt to stand and keep up as he dragged me by the neck. Maybe he purposely didn’t hit me too hard with the bat… The tears had long since started streaming down my face as I looked up to him, mentally begging him to stop.

Steelbeak glanced down and grabbed the back of my head before pounding it into the wall hard enough that I saw stars. With me dazed and having several new bruises forming on my face, he led me back over to where I was and dropped me.

The next thing he grabbed was a whip. He helped pull my shirt off and forced me onto my back. Keeping a foot on the chain as a way to keep me pinned down. 

Then he lashed at my stomach and moments later, both of my arms. 

At first, I thought he was genuinely enjoying this and had tricked me this whole time, starting the day that we met. But I can see it in his face.   
He hates this as much as I do and seems to regret every little thing he does. 

And I know why he’s doing this whether he wants to or not. We both know High Command would gladly kill us both. I don’t blame him for saving himself. Especially since he’s muzzled too. 

My choked sobs struggled to get out through the muzzle. 

As he was putting the whip down, Bradford, the other two vultures, and Heron walked back in. 

“Nice work.” Bradford praised, seeing what was done. 

Steelbeak walked over as he pressed the button.

“Finally.” Steelbeak said, relieved to speak and open his beak again. “I got her legs good with the bat.” 

“Good. So it should be easy to get her into a cell.” Bradford replied.

“Huh. I guess you didn’t like her after all.” Heron laughed.

Steelbeak looked down at me, frowning.

“You don’t honestly regret this, DO YOU!?” Bradford growled, getting his attention for a second.

“What? No!” He said, looking back down to me and smirked. “It’s just… felt good having a stress reliever.” 

“I hope it did.” Bradford replied. “But next time, don’t get close to the enemy unless we tell you to.” 

“Yes sir.” Steelbeak nodded. “Actually, I came up with another idea to torture her with. To get her to die slowly.”

“What’s that?” Bradford asked.

“Starvation.” Steelbeak answered.

“Hm. That would be a good idea. We’ll let her starve to death if her injuries don’t kill her first. Roll over.” Bradford said to me. 

When I didn’t move, Steelbeak kicked me really hard in the side.

“He said ROLL OVER!” Steelbeak growled and immediately, I tried to roll over, wincing from my pain. 

Once I was on my stomach, Bradford snapped his fingers. The other two held down my legs and arms as he went and got a knife and scissors from the table.

“What are you doing now?” Steelbeak asked.

“Leaving our mark so her family knows we mean business.” Bradford said, sitting on my back. “Thanks for taking her shirt off for me.”

“…You’re welcome…?” Steelbeak said, still not understanding what he was doing until he started cutting into my back. 

I was now trying to full on scream in pain as he started cutting something into my back, which didn’t at all help my other injuries.

After a few minutes, which felt like hours, he got off to sit next to me and asked Steelbeak to read it out loud.

“Property of F.O.W.L.?” Steelbeak said, trying to hide how upset he was that they went that far.

‘Propety of- what the fuck!? These assholes are dead once I get out.’ I laid there and thought to myself, still sobbing in pain. 

“We’re not done yet, girl. Two more things to prove to your uncle that we mean serious business. Then you can go die in a cell.” Bradford patted my head before grabbing one of my ears and picking the scissors up. 

Quickly but carefully, he cut through my ears. Cropping them so they were much smaller and my one floppy ear was no longer able to be floppy from how small it was. 

He even threw the pieces in front of me, my eyes managing to see the very earrings Steelbeak gave me through the tears in my eyes.

“Now your tail…” Bradford said, getting up and moving a little.

“Wait!” Steelbeak stopped him. “Wasn’t that enough? I mean, you did brand her and chop her ears off after all…“

“What are you saying?” Bradford questioned. 

“I just… think cutting her tail off is overkill.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but I agree. That would be overkill.” Heron added. “The ears and back are enough.”

“…Fine.” Bradford said. “Eggmen! Get her into a cell now! And clean these scissors and knife!” 

Eggmen appeared and carried me off while others took the tools and went to clean them. 

“Not bad.” Heron said to Steelbeak before leaving.

“If I find out you’re getting close to any enemies again, I won’t even bother putting you out of your misery and kill you. It’ll be much worse.” Bradford said to him. “Don’t fuck up again.”

“Yes sir.” Steelbeak sighed. 

After everyone left, Steelbeak looked down at the pieces of my ears on the floor. Once he knew no one was watching, he got the earrings out and put them in his suit pocket. 

Then disposed of the ears before washing his hands. There was something he had to do and he needed clean hands for it. 

\----------------------

Meanwhile, I was more or less thrown into a cell. I watched them hit a button that closed it before walking away. 

Slowly, I moved back into a corner and continued sobbing through the muzzle. To my horror, I could feel the blood leaving my back and what was left of my ears. 

They mentioned starving me, but I think the blood loss will kill me first.

As I laid there, a small bug flew in through the air holes of the cell and landed in the opposite corner of me. 

After checking to make sure no one was watching, Gandra pulled out her secret phone for SHUSH and sent them a message.

 _\- This is Agent Gandra Dee. We need to act soon. I have my eyes on the McDuck but she won’t survive for long._ \- Gandra. 

Then she saw Steelbeak step into the cell with a little box in his hand that he was holding by the handle. She recognized that It was a first aid kit. 

_\- On second thought, she might be able to survive a little longer than I thought. But not by much_. - Gandra. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. I actually thought about giving these two a Romeo and Juliet ending only with a gun but nah. That's not happening. I posted a bit of a spoiler on my Tumblr when it comes to her ears getting cropped. At least her fluffy tail was saved. 
> 
> Poor Steely and Lexi :(


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally had the time to update this. There's maybe 5 chapters to go after this one. Plus a possible epilogue.

  
Slowly and carefully, Steelbeak made his way to the cells with a first aid kit in his hands. He had to make sure no one was following him or watching for that matter. 

Once inside the room, he let out the breath he was holding when he realized no one else was there. Quickly, he went up to the cell I was in and opened it before stepping inside. 

I could barely process that the cell had opened and that I could hear someone’s footsteps as they came up to me. I just kept laying on the floor where every position was uncomfortable and painful. And kept my hands over my face as I kept trembling. 

“Lexi?” Steelbeak said, quietly and getting down on his knees. 

A pathetic and weak growl escaped my snout as he reached back and unlocked the muzzle so he could take it off.

“There. We can talk now.” Steelbeak said, putting it off to the side. “I got a first aid kit. I’m going to take care of your wounds. Okay? I don’t think there is enough for everything. But I’ll take care of the serious ones.” 

“Why?” I asked, my hands not moving from my face as my body continued to tremble. “You’re a bad guy too.” 

“You’re bleeding needs to stop before you die of blood loss.” He replied.

“Then let me die.” I stated.

“No. You have a family. Are you really going to give up that fast?” 

“How exactly do you expect me to escape?” I questioned.

“I…I don’t know.” He sighed. “I’m sure you’ll think of something once your injuries are taken care of. Unfortunately, this is all I can do for you.”

“Why are you helping me now?” I asked, hearing him open the box.

“You know I had to do that. They would’ve killed us both. But I tried to not use so much strength. I just needed you to look convincing. It seems to have worked since they released my beak.” Steelbeak answered. “I know you probably don’t believe me, but I really didn’t want to do that.”

I jumped in pain when I felt him grab one of my cropped ears.

“Sorry. Your ears are my main concern.” Steelbeak apologized and went to bandaging them up. “I don’t have any supplies that I could use to stitch it closed so it’s going to be bandaged tightly.” 

“Do I have any ears left?” 

“Hm hmm.” He hummed. “Do… do you know how they figured us out?” 

“No. But I figured you out before Heron kidnapped me.” I replied then finally dropped my hands. “Oh god… Huey!” 

“Your nephew?” Steelbeak asked. “Was he there when they took you?”

I nodded, fearfully. 

“He was actually the one that figured you out and told me. I had him run back to the mansion but some Eggmen went after him.” I said.

“I wonder how he… never mind.” Steelbeak shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything about him being here so I think he’s okay.” 

“Okay… good…” I breathed, unsure if I could even believe that. “How did they find out about us?” 

“Apparently they bug their agents phones and saw our texts. I think they saw us on some security footage too.” Steelbeak said, as I covered my snout to keep myself from screaming as he tightened the bandages. “There. Now your other one.” 

“That’s fucked up.” I said, fresh tears going down my face.

“Tell me about it.” Steelbeak replied.

“God. I’m a s-stupid mutt…” I shuddered. 

“No. You’re not.” Steelbeak said. “I’m truly sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this. No matter what they say, I do see you as a friend. I‘m going to start tightening the bandages around your other ear.” 

“How can I possibly believe that?” I asked, preparing myself for the pain. 

“I guess you can’t.” He sighed. “Especially since I can’t help you escape.” 

“I know…” I whimpered as he finished my ears. “…Your loyalties are here with FOWL. You’re already risking a lot to be here right now.”

“Exactly.” Steelbeak nodded. “Next and what is probably going to be last is going to be your torso. Can you try holding yourself up so I can get the bandages around you?” 

I winced as I slowly pushed myself up with my hands.

“That’s it.” He praised. “I’ll try and do this quickly.” 

“God I need to get out of here.” I whispered, remembering what they said about hurting my family.

“You can try. But it’ll have to be after I shut the cell again.” He replied.

“But-”

“But nothing. I can’t risk them thinking I let you out on purpose. If you find a way to escape on your own, then that’s a different story.” He said. 

“They’re going to kill my family after killing me first!” I reminded him.

“I know.” Steelbeak frowned. 

“I need to get out and get back to warn them.” I added.

“I know.” He said again. “But I can’t help you with that. This is as much as I can possibly do. And even then, I could be getting into a lot of trouble by doing this. You can lay down again.” 

Slowly, I tried to find a comfortable position. 

“I can’t even get pain killers?” I asked and he shook his head. 

“Bandages are one thing. But cleaning your injuries and giving pain killers are something else.” Steelbeak replied, shutting the box.

I tried to push myself up again, in an attempt to stand but Steelbeak gently pushed me back down. 

“Please don’t. You won’t make it very far.” Steelbeak said. 

“Steelbeak…” I started trying again and immediately he did the same thing. 

“No.” He stated, looking over to the muzzle before picking it up. “Things weren’t suppose to go like this. God… I really am stupid. I knew who you were back in the library. I should’ve just ignored you and grabbed what I needed before leaving.” 

“But you didn’t… why?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I got curious as to why you were upset. That should have been the end of it.” Steelbeak looked back to the open cell door before looking back to me. “I don’t know about you, but I did have fun for the last several weeks. Did you have fun too?” 

“….hm hmm.” I nodded after thinking about it. “I think we both had an empty void that needed to be filled. And the other filled it by accident.”

“Agreed.” Steelbeak smiled then frowned. 

“What?” I asked. He moved the muzzle slightly. “…Oh…”

“I have to put it back on. I’m sorry.” Steelbeak said, moving to lock it back on before I had a chance to say anything else. 

Once the muzzle was back on, he kept hold of my head and rested his on top of mine. We silently stayed like that for a moment before he gave me a quick peck on the head. 

“Here. I almost forgot about this.” Steelbeak took a small baggie with the earrings in them. “If you still want these.” 

Slowly, I nodded without giving it much thought. Steelbeak stuck them in my pants pocket so they wouldn’t be seen. Then he grabbed the first aid kit and stood back up.

“I’ll be back before I head home for the night.” Steelbeak said, giving one more sympathetic look before walking away. 

I tried to get up and follow him but my legs and body just wasn’t having it. So I stayed in the corner I forced myself into and watched him shut the cell again before leaving. 

Huffing, I rested my head on my hands. I was still bleeding since I definitely needed stitches. But at least blood wasn’t going everywhere now. 

Exhaustion finally took over and I felt myself start to doze off. Praying that I would wake up again. Or that he’ll wake me up to check if he does come back in a few hours.

* * *

Three hours later, Steelbeak was still pacing around the base. Not like he had anything better to do anyway. He stopped every once in a while for a break but then went back to pacing.

Eventually, he found his way to the underground tunnel that led to the lighthouse, where his car was waiting. They park all over and use the secret tunnels to get to the main base. He had a modified golf cart sitting there to get from one end to the other much faster. 

Steelbeak sat in the golf cart and thought about just leaving and wondered if he could even see me again. But the guilt of not coming back when he said was hurting him. 

“Steelbeak?” Gandra said, opening the door and finding him there.

“OH! I was just… gonna go home.” Steelbeak said, taking the keys out.

“I doubt that.” Gandra said, closing the door. “You were thinking about a certain someone. You‘ve been dealing with a dilemma all day, right?”

“What? N-No…” Steelbeak stuttered. 

“Steelbeak, why don’t you help her?” Gandra asked. “I mean, I know you took care of her injuries earlier.”

“You do?” He questioned. 

“I saw it through a bug that I made.” Gandra explained. “I’ve been keeping an eye on her for the last few hours. If you stay any longer, you’ll find out why I was doing this.” 

“Why don’t you tell me?” Steelbeak asked, confused.

“Classified.” Gandra stated. “But things are going to get bad. REALLY bad. It won’t be safe for anyone to be here. I need you to go back and get her out and far away from here. Anyone could come and kill her in the process.” 

“And that’s why she needs to be away from here? What’s going to happen, Gandra?” Steelbeak asked, getting more confused. 

“You’ll find out… sooner or later. If you get somewhere with a TV, watch the news. It will likely pop up on it.” Gandra said. “I won’t tell anyone what you’re doing. I just need you to trust me on this.” 

“…Okay…” Steelbeak sighed, feeling like she was being sincere. “I trust you and I’ll go get her now.” He put the keys back in his pocket.

“Good. Grab her and escape as fast as possible. There isn’t much time.” 

“Understood.” Steelbeak nodded, as they left the tunnel. 

Hurrying, he ran back to the cell room while trying not to look suspicious. Opening the cell, he saw I was sleeping and quietly woke me up and tried shaking me without hurting me in the process. 

I was confused when I woke up and Steelbeak was back before I remembered what he said.

“We need to leave.” I tilted my head at this. “Can you hold on if I put you on my back and give you a piggy back ride?”

I nodded, hoping I could do that.

“Come on.” Steelbeak quickly and gently got me on his back.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tried to ask what was going on. But he shushed me instead.

“I’ll try and explain later. We need to get to safety.” Steelbeak said, trying to keep a look out for other agents and Eggmen. 

Somehow, we made it back to the same tunnel he was in before. 

Shutting the door behind them, he quickly put me down in the golf cart and hopped in himself. Taking the keys out as fast as possible and putting them in. The golf cart speeded down the tunnel to the other end. 

Once at the lighthouse, he picked me up again and carried me to his car in the parking lot. Stopping after he unlocked it and rested his hand on the door handle. I felt him pant behind me and rest his head on mine. 

“You… I chose you. Not… not them…” 

Then he snapped out of it and helped me lay down in the backseat. 

As we drove to the bridge to get to St. Canard, neither of us realized the vehicle next to us was a certain limo. We also didn't know SHUSH agents were in front and behind it, heading towards Funso’s. With MANY other agents scattered around at the different tunnels. Including going towards the one we were just at. 

“Shoot! I should’ve asked WHERE he was going to take her…” Gandra face-palmed herself as she got the notification that it was starting. “Too late for that now. Hopefully he made it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have a self insert and consider yourself one of Steelbeak's bitches. I recently posted a drawing on my Tumblr Lexipup13 where you can add your self inserts to it! 
> 
> I also like the headcanon/theory that Gandra is a double agent and actually works for SHUSH.


	13. Chapter 12

  
Huey continued running as fast as possible to get back to the mansion and notify the others. He did look back to see some Eggmen following him. 

As he continued running, a car came from the direction of the mansion and drove around him to hit the Eggmen. Stepping out of the car was Mrs. Beakley and Scrooge. 

Huey stopped and helped fight the Eggmen now that the two that he was going to get was there. 

It took a while but they eventually ran off back into the woods. 

“Now…” Scrooge huffed, turning to Huey. “Why was a bunch of Eggmen following you, lad?”

“We got attacked! I was running back to the mansion to get you- wait. How did you know to come?” Huey asked.

“We have cameras all over the general area. Not just around the mansion itself. I got a notification of suspicious movements. And saw that Eggmen were walking through.” Beakley explained.

“Did you see Black Heron?” Huey asked. “We need to go back that way! Aunt Lexi needs help!” 

“Black Heron?!” Beakley said, shocked. “No. I didn’t see her.” 

“Hop in.” Scrooge said as they got back into the car.

They dove to the area where we were at but found nothing but my phone and glasses on the side of the road.

“They must’ve took her!” Huey said as they walked over to my stuff.

“Why would Black Heron and FOWL take her? She was never a SHUSH agent.” Beakley questioned. 

“No. But her new friend is an agent for FOWL!” Huey said, explaining what he had discovered with Fenton. “They must’ve realized that we knew and came to deal with us!” 

“WHAT!?” The two adults said in unison. 

“How did you figure that out, Huey?” Scrooge asked. 

“I just felt something was off about him. So I secretly took his picture and had Fenton help find out more information. We hacked the Funso’s cameras and couldn’t see him leaving or arriving the day he claimed to work there. Then we got hacked back and the person on the other end mentioned High Command finding out!” Huey explained completely. 

“There’s no doubt that’s FOWL’s High Command.” Beakley replied. 

“We have to get to Funso’s! That’s where we think their secret base is! And why he was watching us the day we were there!” Huey said, getting back into the car after picking up my glasses and phone.

“Huey… I want to get your Aunt back as soon as possible. But we can’t just barge in there.” Scrooge said. 

“He’s right. We need a plan. And we need to gather the rest of the family to make sure no one else was taken. Let’s head back to the mansion and get everyone together. I’ll contact SHUSH too.” Beakley said. 

“Okay.” Huey said, wiping his eyes. “I’m just scared about what they’re going to do.” 

“I know.” Scrooge said, getting into the backseat with him and holding him tightly. “We’ll get her back.” 

The three of them went back to the mansion and got the rest of the family together. This also included José, Panchito, Daisy, and Gizmoduck. 

Once the rest of the family was accounted for, Beakley contacted SHUSH and used a communicator to talk to them through the TV. 

“Before we start making a plan, I can assure you we have a double agent working on the inside. And she will be keeping an eye on your family member until we get there.” J. Gander Hooter started. 

This made Huey and Gizmoduck look at each other.

“I take it that agent is Gandra?” Huey asked.

“Why yes… how did you know?” J. Gander Hooter questioned.

“Lucky guess.” Gizmoduck replied, relieved to hear she was good after all. 

“So this Gandra will make sure they won’t do anything, right?” Panchito asked. “Mi amiga won‘t be hurt?”

“Unfortunately, she can’t step in and blow her cover. She can only watch over and send us updates on her.” J. Gander Hooter responded. 

“Let’s start planning. What all has Agent Gandra told you about the secret location?” Beakley asked. 

“And is it under Funso’s like Gizmoduck and I think it is?” Huey added.

“Yes. That’s exactly where their secret base is. Agent Gandra has told us that there are secret tunnels all over to get to it. We will need agents at every one that we know of in an attempt to keep them from escaping. She also gave us a basic layout of the place. So we should have a good idea on where they are keeping her at.” J. Gander Hooter said. 

“Huh… that’s weird. I feel like we were under Funso’s in that game.” Dewey said. 

“Yeah! And those Egghead guys were there too!” Launchpad added.

The rest of the family just stared at them. 

“You went to FOWL’s base and you didn’t even know!?” Huey questioned. 

“What? We thought it was part of a game! However… now I see that it isn’t a coincidence that there was a character named Steelbeak and that Aunt Lexi knew someone with the same name.” Dewey replied. 

“How did you two even escape?” Beakley said but cut off Dewey when he began to talk. “On second thought, I don’t want to know. All that matters is that you’re safe.”

“Let’s get back to the actual subject. Which is planning an attack!” Della said, trying to get the topic back on. 

“Agreed.” J. Gander Hooter replied.

\-----------------------------

It took roughly 3 hours of planning and gathering a lot of SHUSH agents together. But they finally came up with a plan. Gandra had been keeping in touch and didn’t say what all happened. Just that it was bad. 

Despite what they wanted, they knew the kids couldn’t go with them. Not until they got their missing family member back since they didn’t know what condition she was in other than ‘bad.’ Possibly even critical condition. 

So the Three Caballeros, Daisy, and Duckworth stayed back to watch the kids and make sure they didn’t try to leave to help. 

Everyone else headed to Funso’s while the agents got ready at every possible tunnel that leads to the main base. Just missing Steelbeak and I by a minute or two at the lighthouse. 

By the time High Command realized that I wasn’t there anymore, it was too late. SHUSH agents ambushed the base and got as many agents and Eggmen in custody as quickly as they could. 

A few was holding High Command in a meeting room and recognized that they worked for Scrooge so they were leading him there to deal with his now ex-Board of Directors. 

“Y-You guys!?” Scrooge said, surprised as he, Della, and Beakley were led into the room. 

“Hello McDuck.” Bradford greeted. 

“YOU were High Command this whole time!?” Beakley questioned. 

“Yes.” Bradford confirmed. 

“Where is my cousin, assholes!?” Della attempted to attack them but got held back by a SHUSH agent. 

Bradford shrugged.

“Answer her! WHERE is my niece!?” Scrooge growled. “I will deal with you lying to me and betraying me for all these years at a later point. I just want my niece right now!” 

“I believe one of our agents… took her out…” Bradford finally replied. 

“Took her where!?” Della questioned.

“Look up and you’ll get your answer.” Bradford said, only making the three of them even more angry. 

“We will find her! I know she’s still here and ALIVE!” Della said, trying to get out of the agent’s grip. 

“She isn’t here but she is alive.” Gandra said, walking inside the room with J. Gander Hooter following.

“What are you doing, Agent Gandra!?” Bradford tried to get up. 

“I never worked for you assholes. I was always a SHUSH agent. I helped plan this attack.” Gandra explained, folding her arms. “I told Steelbeak to get her out and to a safe place because things here could get bad.” 

“So… where did he take her?” Della asked but Gandra remained silent and shook her head. “You don’t know… do you?”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter and I wanted to do more with it but oh well. I might get the next chapter up later tonight to make up for this short one.


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romeo and Juliet have made it back to Romeo's apartment. (No they aren't dying like Romeo and Juliet but they're basically the same since they are on opposite teams and fell in love.) And things only get sadder from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got around to finishing this chapter... at like 3:00 AM.
> 
> I think I am down to two more chapters? And an epilogue? It's ending fast! But I really love how this fic came out.

  
Carefully, Steelbeak got me into his small apartment. Then set me down on the floor by his couch. 

“There. I’ll be right back.” Steelbeak said, turning to go lock the entrance then grabbing his first aid kit that has a lot more supplies. 

Getting on his knees, he turned the TV on to a news station so that I would have something to focus on. 

“Here. I grabbed some painkillers and a water.” Steelbeak said, getting the muzzle and chain around my neck off. 

“Thanks.” I replied, still exhausted after everything. 

With his help, I was able to get a few pills down and drunk the water. 

“I’m going to start with your ears. The pills should kick in soon so you won’t hurt too much when I stitch them closed.” Steelbeak said, getting everything ready before slowly taking the bandages off of the one.

“Okay.” I nodded. 

“Ready?” He asked, picking up a needle. 

“Let’s just get it over with.” I frowned while staring at it. 

Steelbeak worked as quickly and carefully as he could to close the ear to stop the bleeding. Then put new bandages on it. After that, he started cleaning the blood from that side of my head. Once the one side was taken care of, he moved to start working on the other ear. 

The painkillers did their job and I barely felt anything. I just watched the TV as he did that. He was almost finished stitching that ear up when we both got startled by the TV.

_**BREAKING NEWS** _

Had appeared on the screen before showing Roxanne Featherly and how she was near Funso’s. 

“This just in! The organization, SHUSH, has found FOWL’s secret base and it was under Funso’s! We don’t know much about how they found out or why they attacked now. But Scrooge McDuck was seen so we have reasons to believe it involves him and his family!” Roxanne started. “I’m Roxanne Featherly, stay tuned for more info as SHUSH agents bring out the FOWL agents and Eggmen and take them into custody.” 

“So that’s what Gandra meant! Huh. Wonder how the news found out about that so fast. Or SHUSH for that matter. You aren’t a SHUSH agent, right?” Steelbeak asked.

“No. But it’s the media. They are always sticking their noses in where it doesn’t belong. Especially something that had to of happened right as we left them. Also… why does the name Gandra sound familiar?” I asked.

Steelbeak shrugged then looked at the TV to see the agents and Eggmen get taken out of the building. 

“Scrooge was seen… so that must mean he’s there and he found out about his Board of Directors. God. I would not want to be them right now. I don’t see the kids though. So I wonder if they stayed home.” I said as we kept watching the TV. 

“I can’t believe SHUSH figured it out! I must be one of the only FOWL agents that got away!” Steelbeak said, shocked. 

“Huey figured out where your base is. They must’ve attacked and planned a rescue mission. But I’m not there since we already left. I still can’t believe those vultures were high command all this time.” I replied. 

“How do you know he figured it out.” Steelbeak questioned. 

“He explained it before we got attacked.” I said. “He had to of made it home safely and got Agent 22. Who then got SHUSH involved.” 

“I see…” Steelbeak said, not able to look away from the TV. 

“What did Gandra say?” I decided to ask, hoping to figure out why that name was so familiar.

“She just told me that I had to get you to safety. And that something bad was about to happen. She also told me to watch the news to find out.”

“This must be it.” I said, then thought about it. “She knew this was going to happen. And made sure I made it to safety before anyone could kill me for spite when they attacked. Gandra… she had to of been a double agent. There’s no way she would’ve known about this happening otherwise.” 

“That’s a good point. It also explains why she wanted me to come and get you out before it happened.” Steelbeak replied. 

Then he got up and started pacing around the living room. Mostly muttering to himself. Things I couldn’t hear for one reason or another.

“What are we going to do? It’s only a matter of time before they find out that we‘re here!” Steelbeak spoke louder after a minute. “Then I’ll go to jail again… for a lot more crimes than just this.” 

“Maybe. But you wouldn’t of helped me if you were truly a bad guy.” I said. 

“The police won’t care! And same goes for the other guys in prison!” 

“Steely. Calm down and come here.” I patted the floor by me. 

“Oh right! Your injuries!” He came back over and picked the needle up, that was still hanging from my ear. 

“Relax. Don’t want to accidentally hurt me, right?” I said, shakily putting a hand on his beak, rubbing it gently. 

“Right.” He breathed. “I gotta stay relaxed and focused for this.” 

Taking a deep breath, he continued stitching my ear and bandaging it afterwards. Then cleaned that side of my head. 

“There. Now onto your back and stomach. I think I have cream for those types of injuries to keep them from getting infected. Want me to put it on when I clean your torso and re-bandage it?” Steelbeak asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

Steelbeak got up to grab it and returned a minute later. I leaned forward a little so he could take the bandages off and have easier access to my back. 

“Yah know… I think we’re both going to need therapy after this.” I said.

“I haven’t actually thought about that in years. To be honest, I probably should’ve been in therapy a long time ago after sending my dad to prison. And my family moved out here.” Steelbeak replied.

“Why didn’t you?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I guess I didn’t think I needed it anymore.”

“Would you go nowadays?” I decided to ask.

“Maybe. The prison might be able to hook me up with a therapist but that’s something we’ll have to wait and see.” Steelbeak replied. “Do you think you’ll need a therapist too?”

“Probably.” I admitted. “I won’t be able to simply move on from this.”

I motioned to my ears. 

“Or the other stuff that asshole did to me.” I said and continued when he tried to say something. “You didn’t do anything to me. It was all Bradford and his brothers.”

Steelbeak was going to try and argue but chose not to in the end. After that, we silently watched the TV for any updates. 

It took a long time, but he was finally finished taking care of my injuries and cleaning the blood from my body. 

Since I was clearly still exhausted, and the pills probably didn’t help, Steelbeak carried me into his bedroom and put me down on his bed. He had me hand him the bag with the earrings so he could put them on the table. 

Then he climbed in with me after changing and turning the TV to the news channel we were watching in the living room. 

Last thing I remember is him putting an arm around me and holding me close to his body as I gradually fell asleep again.

* * *

It was the next morning when I woke up to his heart beating next to what’s left of my ears. I rubbed my eyes and looked up to him as he looked down to me.

“Did you sleep at all?” I asked when I realized he was awake already.

“A little. It’s hard to sleep when someone could come and kill you at any second. Or arrest you for that matter!” Steelbeak replied. “Seems like you slept alright though since it’s morning.” 

“Surprisingly I did sleep good. Maybe I have you to thank for that.” I said as I booped his beak with my snout. 

This got a smile out of him. 

“Heh. Well, since you’re awake, I can take you to the St. Canard hospital once we’re both ready.” Steelbeak replied. “Your family eventually came on the news.”

“What did they say?” I asked.

“For me to turn myself in and bring you with me.” Steelbeak said.

“Are you going to turn yourself in?” I asked and he shook his head.

“I can’t.” Steelbeak responded. “I’ll take you to the hospital but I won’t be able to walk you in or anything.” 

“What are you going to do then?” I was afraid to ask.

“I’m not sure. But I can’t stay here. It’s only a matter of time before they find out where I live. I will probably come back and pack as much as I can before leaving.” Steelbeak explained. “I don’t know where I’m going to go but it’ll likely be another state.” 

“Oh.” I said, dropping my head onto his chest. “And we have no way of keeping in touch, huh? Our phones are gone and they’ll track your social media posts for your location.” 

“Right… but it’s probably for the best. We will be putting ourselves in danger trying to talk to each other. Whether it be from FOWL or SHUSH.” Steelbeak frowned. “Well, we should get going.” 

“Not yet.” I said, quietly. “Let’s…”

“Hm?” He hummed, confused.

“…Let’s stay like this for a few more minutes.” I finished.

“…Okay.” Steelbeak nodded with a small smile. “A few more minutes shouldn’t hurt.” 

With that, Steelbeak pulled me closer and held me tightly against his chest while trying not to agitate my injuries. After taking a deep breath,   
he grabbed my face gently and kissed me for the first time. 

I was a little taken back at first but quickly melted into his body as I felt his cold beak against my snout. A minute or two later, he sat back and sighed as I rested my head against his chest again, looking up to him with stars in my eyes. 

“You have no idea how badly I’ve been wanting to do that.” He said.

“Ditto.” Was all I could respond with as I pushed myself up so we could nuzzle our faces together. 

I wasn’t even bothered by the fact that the painkillers had wore off during the night. The pain wasn’t even bothering me despite constantly making itself known. 

We stayed cuddled together like that for another 20 or so minutes. Then I sat up so Steelbeak could get ready since we were still in danger for all we knew. 

After changing, helping me up, and giving me the bag of earrings to put back in my pocket, we both took a trip to the bathroom before heading to his car outside. 

My legs were still hurting but not by much so I was able to somewhat walk a little again. Which I guess is good or I would be crawling into the hospital if I couldn't find help outside of it.

* * *

We pulled into a parking space at the hospital and sat there in silence. Finally I broke down and started sobbing. 

“What is it?” Steelbeak asked as I unbuckled the seat belt and tried to get close to him, which he accepted with putting an arm around me.

“I’m scared.” I admitted. 

“Of FOWL?” He asked and I shook my head.

“For you.” I replied. “I won’t be able to sleep not knowing what’s going on and where you’re at. Why don’t you stay? Maybe… maybe my uncle can bail you out and you can stay with us at the mansion?” 

“I don’t think McDuck will want to spend that much money on someone that hurt his niece.” Steelbeak said, resting his head on mine.

“He’ll understand. I’ll make him understand.” I choked. “Hell, you don’t even have to get arrested. I’ll just sneak you into the mansion.”

“I’m sorry.” Steelbeak sighed, crying himself. “I don’t think it’ll work. We don’t even know how your family is going to react to me after this.” 

“There has to be a way…” I said. 

“Look. I’ll figure something out.” Steelbeak rubbed his eyes. “Focus on you and your injuries right now. Can you please do that? For me?”

“Okay.” I nodded. “But only for you.” 

Steelbeak smiled and we kissed again. 

“Now go get professional help and see your family again.” Steelbeak said. 

“I will.” I looked back to the entrance and rubbed my eyes, gathering the strength to get there myself. “Steelbeak…?”

“Yeah?” He asked as I put a hand on the door handle. 

“I… I love you.” I finally said out loud. 

“I love you too.” Steelbeak said, reach a hand out and making me turn back to him. “Wait. One more for the road. I know we just kissed but…” 

I smiled and we kissed one more time.

“Be safe, okay?” I said, rubbing his beak. 

“You too.” He said, leaning into the touch and liking it. 

“Maybe I’ll find your uncle’s address and write a letter. People still do that… right?” He asked and I nodded. 

“That’ll work for me. As long as I know you’re okay I’m happy.” I said. 

“Okay yeah! I’ll do that! Maybe I’ll find a place to settle down and give you my address back! Your family won’t turn me in, right? If they see the letters and the address on them?” Steelbeak questioned. 

“They shouldn’t. I’ll kill them if they try.” I replied. 

“Maybe one day once this dies down I’ll be back.” He said.

“I’ll be waiting.” I replied. “Try and write soon.”

“I will!” Steelbeak said as we gave each other a kinda awkward hug from being inside his car. “Goodbye, Lexi. And thank you too.”

“For…?” 

“For being the only friend I’ve had in a very long time. I didn’t realize how badly I needed it until I met you.” Steelbeak clarified. 

“Heh. Same here. I mean… I love my family. But it’s nice getting to know someone outside of it.” I said. “Goodbye, Steelbeak.” 

“Bye.” He said again, letting me go so I could sit upright again. “It’s been a lot of fun, huh?” 

“Hm hmm.” I nodded and hummed. “Here’s to hoping we’ll randomly cross paths again one day.” 

“I’ll drink to that but I didn’t bring any alcohol.” Steelbeak chuckled.

“God what I would do for some wine right now.” I said. “I don’t care what the hospital says, I’m going to have my uncle bring me some.” 

“Hmm I might have to stop somewhere myself and hope I don’t get caught.” 

“Just don’t drink and drive too much, yeah? We gotta meet up again in this life. Not the after life or the next life after that.” I replied.

“I’ll try not to.” Steelbeak said as I turned to put my hand on the door handle again. “See yah next time, Lexi.” 

“See yah, Steely.” I gave a smile that he returned instantly.

Then I opened the door and slowly got out of the car. Once I shut the door, I used his car for support before moving to the next one. I kept this up until I made it to the part where I had to cross. 

“Okay. You ready for this, Lexi? One…two…” I pushed off the car. 

My legs were killing me from the pressure being put on them since I had nothing to lean on. But as quickly as I could, I made it across the parking lot without getting ran over. 

Then I proceeded to collapse on the sidewalk. 

“Well, at least you made it across the road…” I said to myself. 

As I went to push myself up, thanking god I took some painkillers before we left, someone came up to me from inside. 

“Are you alright, Miss?” The woman asked, coming over and helping me up to my feet. “I was sitting in the waiting room and saw you fall. Why didn’t you get dropped off at the door? Surely you didn’t drive like this?” 

“I couldn’t. It wouldn't be safe and we couldn’t risk being seen.” I replied, looking back and seeing Steelbeak pull out and leave. “I need to contact my family. Right now.” 

“Let’s get you to the doctors first-” The woman started walking me inside and letting me use her for support. “-Wait. You’re the McDuck, aren’t you?” 

“I am. I know my family is missing me.” 

“Yes. They were on the news this morning!” She replied.

“I know. I saw them.” I said. “I need to tell them I’m okay.” 

“I’m sure the doctors will contact Duckburg Police and they’ll get in touch with your family for you.” The woman said as we got inside. 

As we did, a few nurses came out with a gurney and helped me lay down onto it. I thanked the woman for her help before being taken to the emergency room. 

The doctors ended up putting me to sleep so they could redo my stitches and take care of my other injuries. One nurse did end up contacting the Duckburg police for me.

* * *

  
Back at home, the whole family was awake after a sleepless night and was gathered around the living room. Then someone’s phone began ringing. 

“M’ma?” Fenton answered his phone and everyone looked to him with hope and fear in their eyes. “You did? Fantastic! I’ll let them know! Gracias, M’ma, for letting me know!” 

“What is it, Fenton?” Huey asked as Fenton hung up.

“She’s been found! She showed up at the St. Canard hospital this morning and is being taken care of as we speak!” Fenton grinned. 

“Oh thank god!” Scrooge said, relieved. “Now I’m going to go teach those vultures a lesson and rub it in that she is fine! Wait. Do you know if anyone arrived with her?”

“No. I was just told that she arrived at the hospital. They think she may have been dropped off though.” Fenton replied.

“Hm. So that Steelbeak is on the run…” Scrooge said. “Bah! Whatever! Who cares about him! Launchpad, take the family to St. Canard! I need to go see my Board of Directors since she’ll probably be in the emergency room for a while.” 

“I’ll drive you. I’ll talk with SHUSH about this.” Beakley replied. “Webby, go with the rest of the family.”

“Okay, granny.” Webby nodded. 

“That rooster is lucky he isn’t there waiting for us! I would’ve shown what happens when he hurts mi amigos!” Panchito said, wishing he had his guns but is still waiting to be able to legally own them in the States. And as such they are back in Mexico. 

“You said it!” Donald and Della said in unison. 

Quickly, the family got into the limo to go to the hospital as Launchpad got into the driver’s seat. Meanwhile, Beakley and Scrooge took her own car to head to SHUSH. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That character development though. They finally admitted their love for each other and kissed! And Steelbeak didn't flinch when she touched his beak and likes it now! 
> 
> Also he booped the snoot. Well, I guess she technically booped the beak. 
> 
> Comments and Kudos make me write quicker.


	15. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The last chapter! I might do a epilogue but I haven't thought of any good ideas for it yet. Well, other than the obvious reunion. Possibly after a large time skip or something.

  
I was in the hospital for a week. Despite what I said, Scrooge wanted to be sure I wasn’t drugged or anything. So the doctors kept me there until the tests came back negative. 

My ears have actual stitches in them and the doctors said they could try and do something about the scars on my back. But I had to focus on one thing at a time. What was left of my ears was the main concern. Everything else will heal over the next several weeks.

That first day in the hospital was mostly a blur. I think it was the amount of painkillers in me that made me out of it. I don’t even remember waking up after being in the emergency room. 

But from what I was told, I was lucid enough to talk. Not enough to answer SHUSH’s questions. But enough for my family.

When I did open my eyes, I had several kids trying to hug me. 

“What happened?” I had asked, looking around the room. “Where..?”

“You’re in the hospital.” Donald replied. 

“Right… I think I was dropped off earlier.” I looked over to see Huey looking sad. “Huey? Thank goodness you made it to safety.” 

“Thanks to you.” Huey frowned and hugged me. “I’m sorry about what happened and that we didn’t…”

“Hey… this isn’t your fault.” I held him close. “FOWL is the one that did all of this to me. You did what I wanted and that was to get help.” 

“Did you hear that FOWL was taken into custody? Or most of them anyway. We can’t find that guy you were talking to.” Dewey asked. 

“I saw it last night. We were watching the news.” I replied. 

“What?!” Della said. “Where were you two at that you could watch the news and see all of that?”

“His place. He took care of me.” I said.

“After hurting you! Man when I get my hands on him…” Della trailed off.

“Della, he isn’t…” I trailed off, unable to finish that sentence. 

“Please don’t tell me you were about to say that he isn’t a bad guy. May I remind you what happened to your arms… your back… your ears?!” Della responded in shock. 

“I would rather you didn’t.” I sighed. “He’s not a bad guy. I know it’s crazy but he…” 

“Aunt Lexi, I know you liked him but he is still a FOWL agent. And they can’t be trusted! I know they had something to do with my parents too…” Webby muttered the last part. 

“I’m way too tired to argue about this.” I rubbed my eyes. “So where is Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley at?”

“Dealing with SHUSH right now.” Della replied. “They’ll be here later.”

“God that means I have to deal with SHUSH too.” I said. “I don’t think I’m awake enough to answer those kind of questions that they have.” 

“I’m sure they’ll be here another day for that.” Panchito responded. 

“Wait. Do you know what happened to me?” I asked, thinking about what Della had said.

“No but the doctors told us about your injuries. I guess Gandra told SHUSH but they refuse to tell us.” Della frowned. “Clearly it was bad, huh?” 

“Hm hmm.” I nodded, sleepily. 

“Why don’t you go back to sleep? We‘ll tell Uncle Scrooge you woke up when they arrive.” Huey said, catching on that I was still tired.

“And deal with SHUSH if they come too.” Della added.

“Okay.” I sighed and closed my eyes.

Quickly, I fell right back to sleep. I did wake up again when Scrooge, Mrs. Beakley, and an Agent of SHUSH arrived but it became clear I was still too out of it to answer questions about FOWL. 

An agent of SHUSH did return later in the week with Mrs. Beakley. They had to get my side of the story. I told them everything that Huey did about the night I was taken and what went on afterwards.

“Where is that agent that helped you out? We found out where he lives and he wasn’t there. In fact, it looked like he left in a hurry. Did he say where he was going?” The agent, Gryzlikoff, had asked.

“No. I don’t know where he is.” I replied. “The last time I saw him was when he dropped me off here.”

“Why would an Agent of FOWL help you by bringing you here and getting you away from the danger?” He questioned.

“Steelbeak is different.” I said without thinking about it.

“You still seem protective over someone that was okay with you dying.” Beakley said. 

“It was a life or death situation. For both of us. We all know what FOWL would’ve done if he tried to fight them.” I replied. 

“I take it this… relationship of yours is what caused FOWL to finally attack?” Gryzlikoff asked.

“…Maybe…” I looked away. 

“They didn’t like an agent getting friendly with the enemy, huh?” He added.

“I guess not.” I sighed. 

“Be honest, were you two ready to get into an actual relationship? Did you really get that close to each other in just a couple of weeks? Was that even part of their plan?” Beakley questioned. 

“No.” I shook my head. “It was never part of any plan. And I don’t know… I won’t lie, I think we both gained some respect for the other and was even able to bond over things.”

“How’d you two meet to begin with?” Gryz asked. 

“We were both at a library. It was by chance that we met that day… then ran into each other again a few days later…” I said. “He even told me that he knew who I was at the library but still decided to talk to me anyway.”

“Why?” Gryz questioned. “Why would he talk to his known enemy if it wasn’t part of a plan?”

“I think we were both having bad days and he decided to come over so we could talk about it. Then we met the second time and only he was having a bad day. But it was obvious he appreciated having someone to rant to.” 

“No co-workers to do that with?” Gryz asked. “Pft. Typical FOWL… treating their comrades like dirt, yeah?” 

“No kidding. High Command has a button for his beak to muzzle him instantly. He even said that he couldn’t eat, drink, or barely breath with his beak like that. That was a part of the reason why he did this. They could have easily muzzled him and left him to die slowly.” I explained. “The other agents were constantly grabbing and shutting his beak too. He literally had no one to rant to cause they kept muzzling him.” 

“How did High Command do this?” Gryz rubbed his chin. 

“There’s a reason why his name is Steelbeak.” I said. “When they broke him out of jail and gave him his new beak, they had magnets put inside it so they could shut it with a push of a button.”

“I see…” Gryz said. “Well, that is certainly fucked up. And for FOWL to do that to one of their own… you would never see SHUSH do that!” 

“What all did he do after helping you escape?” Beakley questioned. 

“He stitched my ears closed and gave me new bandages and cream to keep from getting infections. We watched the news as he did that. He had to stop midway through one of my ears and started panicking.” 

“About what? SHUSH coming to take him away?” Beakley asked and I nodded, confirming it. 

“He didn’t want to go back to jail with people that will kill him. That’s why he left after dropping me off. We don’t even have a way to communicate if we wanted to…” I frowned. 

“What happened after he took care of your injuries?” Gryz asked. 

“We went to bed.” I said. “But he didn’t sleep. He knew there was still FOWL agents out there that could come and kill us. Steelbeak dropped me off here the next morning.” 

“Lexi, If this never happened… Do you think you would’ve gotten into a relationship with him?” Beakley had to ask.

My silence gave her my answer. 

“Oh god… you kissed didn’t you?” Beakley asked.

“How’d you figure that one out?” I questioned.

“I can just tell. That’s why you’re being protective over him and clearly you’re still in love.” Beakley said. “Question is, did he share the same feelings in return?” 

“He did. I know it.” I replied. 

“Well, would you like us to do anything to him when we do find him? And I’m sure we will.” He asked, testing that protectiveness theory.

“No. I’m not pressing charges against him either.” 

“See, that proves that you for sure still care about him!” He replied. 

“You still care about him… Despite what he did. How he lied and hurt you.” Beakley added.

“He didn’t want to.” I told them. “He wouldn’t of helped me here or take care of my injuries if he didn’t actually care.” 

“He could still be tricking you.” Gryzlikoff replied. “You can never trust an Agent of FOWL.” 

“Maybe you never took the chance to get to know one. Even if I knew he was always a FOWL agent… it wouldn’t of changed anything.”

“Don’t be so sure of that.” Gryz said. “I think we heard enough. We have pictures of him and will be looking out for where he could be hiding.” 

“Get some rest. Someone else will be here soon.” Beakley said as they left. 

A few days later, I was leaving the hospital with one of Scrooge’s canes since I needed some kind of support. There was still no sign of Steelbeak so I hoped he got away and that he was safe.

The others kept telling me that I was crazy for still liking him and trusting him instead of wanting nothing to do with him. But I didn’t care. 

In fact, I didn’t care about a lot of things. It didn’t take long before the rest of the family caught on that I was depressed. Even after I was healed up physically, I was still hurting in so many ways. 

Therapy could only help so much. Nothing was able to take the pain I was feeling away. Whether it be in my heart or head. 

Every day when I woke up and looked in the mirror, I wanted to just die from seeing my ears. After a while, I started refusing to leave the mansion for therapy and anything else. 

My self esteem was already pretty low but what had been done to my ears hit it harder than anything else. 

All I wanted to do was lay around all day. My grades tanked since I had given up on them. And no amount of convincing or begging could get me to care about that sort of thing. 

Huey especially wanted to do something to make me feel better. But he didn’t know what until he looked at his mom’s prosthetic. Then he got an idea and Fenton could help with it.

“Fenton? I need you to do me a favor.” Huey said, coming up to him.

“Sure. What’s going on?” Fenton asked, turning to him. 

“So I was thinking, maybe you can make prosthetic ears for my Aunt Lexi? Surely having somewhat normal ears again will help her feel better and want to leave the mansion.” Huey said.

“That’s a good idea, Huey! I’ll be by the mansion later to get measurements. Then I’ll get started on them immediately!” Fenton replied. 

“Thank you!” Huey said, before deciding to stick around a little longer to see what he was up to. 

It took a while, but eventually Fenton finished making the new ears. He was over at the mansion and putting them into place for me, making sure they connected properly and wasn’t going to fall off.

I cried when I looked into the mirror after he was done. They were perfect and exactly what I needed. Even though both of them were pointed upwards since he couldn’t make one flopped over like how my ears were.

Still, I was a little nervous going out beyond the mansion again. 

Slowly, I was able to rebuild the confidence to leave and the urge to live again. My grades started getting better and I was much happier after getting new ears. 

About three months after what happened, I took a little trip into the city on my own for the first time in a while. I was quietly hoping I would run into Steelbeak again but knew deep down that wasn’t going to happen.

SHUSH was still looking for him. And it would be smart to stay away from Duckburg for good. Hell, probably stay out of the whole state. 

I walked into the jewelry store and up to the counter. There was something I had to do and I know the rest of the family would’ve tried to get me to not do it. 

“Hi. How can I help you?” The woman at the counter greeted.

“Hi. Your website mentioned you can turn things into earrings or rings. Right?” I asked. 

“That’s correct! What were you thinking of having done?” She asked. 

“I was hoping you could turn these earrings into a ring since I can’t exactly use them for my ears anymore.” I tapped one of my steel ears and took out the small baggie with the earrings in it from my purse.

“We can absolutely do that! Any ideas for a design?” 

I gave her my idea and paid for it. I was going to have them turned into a silver infinity ring with the earring rubies in the center on both sides. 

Once I got the ring, I began wearing it daily. Only taking it off for showers or for bed. 

The rest of the family eventually noticed it and disapproved spending money to get it done. But they also knew that I was still heartbroken, despite being a few months later. 

Not knowing where he is doesn’t help. But hey, as long as he isn’t on the news for one reason or another, it’s a good sign, right?

Plus, a part of him is still with me now that I have my ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> The title was between 'Perfectly Perfect' and 'Lucky One' both by Simple Plan. After listening to both several times on loop, I felt PP was the better choice. So there’s a fun fact.


End file.
